Duplicity
by Suukorak
Summary: Captain Sisko, leading the Defiant through a patrol of the Gamma Quadrant, has a freak accident that leads him to a remarkable discovery.
1. Chapter 1

Captain Benjamin Sisko looked up at the time. Two minutes to the end of his watch. He settled back into his chair. "Computer," he called, and the computer beeped in acknowledgment. "Record Captain's log."

"_Captain's log, stardate 49273.6. I've taken the _Defiant_ through the wormhole to probe the Dominion's borders. This research will be vital if we ever intend to keep the Dominion out of the Alpha Quadrant. We are currently proceeding under cloak along the border, hoping the Jem'Hadar are unable to see us if we keep our distance._"

Sisko looked up again. The watch was over. As the new watch took the bridge, Benjamin left it and walked to his quarters, yawning. It was unexpected good luck that they had found no resistance so far. He hoped it would last.

Miles O'Brien laid down in his cramped bunk. The _Defiant_'s quarters were certainly a long shot from those of the _Enterprise_ or Deep Space Nine, but they were adequate. He could always count on that with the _Defiant_. Everything was functional, with minimal streamlining or gloss or beauty. But she worked.

The chief engineer was looking forward to a rest. He'd been on watch for hours and was glad to finally leave the engine room. His eyes were beginning to sting.

His combadge beeped. "Bashir to O'Brien."

He sat up on his bunk, grimacing. He took a moment and gathered his thoughts. "O'Brien. What?"

Julian's laughter at O'Brien's tone carried through the com line. "Good night. Bashir out."

Miles let himself fall back down with a sigh of exasperation. "Good night," he muttered, smiling. "Rascal."

Benjamin Sisko was almost thrown out of his bunk by a tremendous jolt. He steadied himself. The inertial dampening fields should have prevented this kind of shock. Before he could begin to theorize, his combadge beeped. "Kira to Sisko."

The captain stood, smoothing his shirt with one hand and answering with the other. "Sisko here."

"Captain, you'd better come to the bridge."

In moments, he arrived, replacing Major Kira Nerys in the command chair. "What happened?"

Commander Eddington turned from his console. "We just gave off an electrical discharge. It was absorbed on the inside of the shields, but it caused a momentary failure in the IDF."

Sisko frowned. This had never happened before, and surprises were never good in the Gamma Quadrant. "Check the sensor logs. How did we get the energy for this discharge?"

Lieutenant Mincai, the science officer on duty, stared at his console. "Unknown, sir. The entire ship was just – ionized. All at once."

"No other unusual readings?"

"We also took a light dose of beta radiation at the same moment."

"_Beta_ radiation? Don't our shields reflect that?"

"Yes, sir. I…I can't explain."

"That can't be a coincidence. Any idea how they were related?"

Mincai hesitated, holding his breath. After a second, he exhaled heavily. "No, sir."

Sisko opened the shipwide intercom. Clearly he'd need more experienced officers to explain this. "All senior staff to the bridge."

Worf was in a foul mood. His rest had been interrupted by a tremor that had knocked him out of his bunk, a clear sign of weakness to his bunkmate. He had been angry when he had discovered a small wound on his cranial ridge, but now he would have to display and explain it in front of the entire senior staff. He stormed onto the bridge, barely keeping himself from shoving his counterpart out of his seat. He shifted uneasily as Major Kira explained the occurrences and correlated them with the sensor readings. He kept his head bowed over his console to hide his bleeding.

The captain turned in his chair as Kira finished her debriefing. "Doctor," he called, beckoning Bashir with a gesture. "Is the radiation anything to worry about?"

Julian took a quick glance at the sensor readings and turned back to Captain Sisko. "It's nothing. Barely more than background radiation, certainly no cause for worry. But what about the ionization?"

Jadzia Dax glanced back at Bashir before turning to Sisko again. "Medically, no problem. It discharged and didn't even touch us. Otherwise, I don't know. There's no indication what caused this."

"Not even theoretically?" Benjamin was beginning to worry. With this little information, he was contemplating dropping to impulse until they understood what was going on.

"I read about something like this," O'Brien piped up, "predicted with warp field flux. It was in an analysis of articulated warp nacelles, for the _Intrepid_-class."

"How could something like that happen?"

"I have no idea. For the effect to hit the ship itself, we'd have to have a serious frequency discrepancy in our nacelles, but I'm reading alignment well within safety limits."

"Or," Dax offered hesitantly, "another warp field inside our own."

"From another ship?" O'Brien asked. "Impossible. We would've seen them on sensors."

"They couldn't be cloaked," Kira reasoned. "We'd still detect them moving at warp."

"Wait…" Odo's gravelly voice exclaimed. "This can't be."

"What?" Kira was the first to respond.

"The center of the warp field would have had to be inside the _Defiant_."

"What? How?" Sisko stood up and turned to face the changeling.

"I don't know, but that's what these calculations show."

Benjamin shook his head and sat back down. "Maybe we're going about this the wrong way. Are there any other explanations?"

Dax shrugged. "I can't think of any."

"Some kind of weapon?"

"I doubt it." Worf looked up. "It would have had to come from outside our sensor range, and remain undetectable during its entire flight."

"Could that have been cloaked?" Kira asked.

"Possibly, but how did it get through the navigational deflectors without being noticed?" O'Brien said.

Kira shook her head in puzzlement. Dax puffed out her cheeks and deflated them again. Worf simply sat still, and suddenly turned toward Sisko. "I have an explanation."

"A phasing cloak? I suppose it's possible, but… I didn't know anyone had made one." O'Brien looked at Worf. "I missed more than I thought in the _Enterprise_'s last years."

"Could it be the Dominion?" Sisko asked.

"I don't think so. If they had had cloaking devices like that, they would have used them before." Odo replied.

"All right, then. Someone – _something_ else. What? Why? And is it a danger to us?"

"Good question," Jadzia sighed. "Wish I had an answer."

Kira looked up. "Sir, a general hail on a low frequency. Can't pinpoint the source."

Sisko thought for a moment. It could be a Dominion trap, or it could be the answer to their questions. He looked around him. The _Defiant_ was a fast, strong ship. If it was an ambush, she could take it. "Acknowledge. On screen."

The major hesitated a moment, then turned back to Sisko. "Audio only."

"All right. Put it through."

A voice came through the audio projectors on the bridge, calm, almost monotonous, almost dead. "Drelgar to unknown hidden ship. Identify yourself." Despite its tranquility, the voice was slightly rough.

Sisko took a deep breath. "This is Captain Sisko of the Federation Starship _Defiant_. You seem to be in Dominion space."

"You are of the Dominion." The sentence was as much accusation as question. Somehow it reminded Benjamin of the Cardassian courts, where the defendant was convicted before the trial began.

"No. We are probing its borders."

"We shall see."

"Sir, a ship uncloaking above us. It's… the size of a runabout." Worf tensed, as he did every time an unknown vessel appeared.

The voice addressed them again. "You will show yourself and follow."

Sisko hesitated. He could be putting his ship in danger. He took another breath and spoke. "Uncloak and raise shields. Turn to 004 mark 96. Match the other ship's speed."

"Aye, sir." Dax acknowledged. "Proceeding at warp 5."

"Warp 5?" Doctor Bashir sighed. "This is going to be a long trip."

Four hours into the voyage, Ensign Philips at the helm turned to Commander Eddington, the officer of the watch. "Jem'Hadar ship on long-range sensors. Approaching at warp 8."

Eddington tapped his combadge. "Arm weapons and raise shields. Captain Sisko to the bridge."

A few moments later, Sisko reappeared. "What's the matter, Commander?"

"Jem'Hadar ship approaching at warp 8, sir. Weapons are armed. The alien ship has cloaked."

"Drop shields and cloak. Cut power to all non-essential systems. Drop to impulse."

The continuous humming of the warp core dropped, both in pitch and volume, as the _Defiant_ faded from view. "Cloaked." Ensign Philips reported. "Impulse power."

"What's the Jem'Hadar's ETA?"

"3 minutes, sir. Sensors are limited. We're in a nebula."

"All right."

"Sir! The alien ship has decloaked. It's less than a minute from the Jem'Hadar."

"What the _hell_ are they doing?" Sisko was surprised by his own shout. "That ship's too small to stand a chance against the Jem'Hadar."

"The ship's recloaked." Ensign Philips paused, then turned so fast he almost threw himself off his chair. "Sir, the Jem'Hadar ship was destroyed."

"_Destroyed?_ How?"

"I don't know, sir."

Sisko let out a deep breath. Too many mysteries were accumulating. He hoped that a few of them would be resolved before they were driven off, or killed. "Uncloak and disarm weapons. Hail the alien ship."

"Responding, sir. Audio only."

"Put them through."

The voice, just as it had been before, reappeared. "Yes?"

Sisko shifted in his seat nervously. "What happened to the Jem'Hadar ship?"

"It was destroyed."

"Did you destroy it?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"We have no time for this. Follow."

The alien ship uncloaked and led them on.

The trip was complete after another half-hour. The _Defiant_ orbited the eighth planet of a red giant star. Dr. Bashir had overestimated the trip, but he still felt tired. He could only imagine how O'Brien must have felt, staying up an extra three hours before giving up on detecting the phased cloak. He was relieved when Sisko only called Dax, Odo, and Worf on the landing party. He turned control back to the medical officer on watch and went to sleep.

Odo walked to the transporter room. He stepped on the transporter pad, waiting for the others. They weren't long in arriving. Sisko grinned at them and nodded at the transporter operator. "Energize."

Worf started when they rematerialized. The four of them were surrounded by tall, black-armored humanoids with spherical helmets. They stood in a small, flat, gray area in the midst of a gray city. It would've been a park if it weren't for the lack of vegetation. Odo immediately turned to liquid and slid down into a drain, a seemingly involuntary act. Dax turned, startled. "Odo!"

The aliens stood motionless, yet managed to seem deadly and threatening. Worf took advantage of the moment to analyze their armament. Each was armored with a thin, flexible material, and rigid metal casings around their forearms and backs. The casings were irregular and complex, probably to confuse enemies as much as to serve many purposes. On their backs, they carried long tubes reminiscent of personal missile launchers, and they held what was probably a phaser rifle in their hands. Finally, one of the armored figures stepped forward and spoke. "You are of the Dominion."

Worf stepped forward, baring his teeth at the slander. "No."

The figure continued, seemingly oblivious to the Klingon's comments. "You travel with changelings."

"But –" Dax interjected, but was cut off.

The alien raised its phaser rifle towards Dax. "You will die."

The first thing Odo felt when he materialized was an overwhelming nausea. He couldn't help but melt into his liquid form, and he felt himself pour down a drain. By the time he recovered, he was in a force-field-sealed holding cell. The room was pitch black, and though he could feel the force fields, he didn't know how large the room was. There was even a force field as a floor – so he couldn't be sure it was a room. He soon had little choice but to sit in a corner and wait for his friends to find him. He hated this helplessness. Living with humanoids so long, he was used to being more mobile and stealthy than anyone could anticipate. His entrapment frightened him, though he was loath to admit it. The best he could do was hope for Sisko to find him soon.

Sisko stepped in front of Dax, his arms extended parallel to the ground. "Wait. Listen."

The alien paused, then lowered its rifle. "Speak."

"We are enemies of the Dominion, who were probing its borders when we found your ship. It led us here."

"Yet you have a changeling in your midst. Did you not know this?"

"We did. The changeling is not a Dominion spy – he was sent out as an infant to gather information on other areas of the galaxy. He has no love for his kind."

"He cannot be trusted on your word alone. We will transport him aboard your ship when you depart. Until then, he shall be kept prisoner."

Sisko grimaced, but he knew he had no choice. "So be it."

The alien turned around and began to walk down a street. "You will follow."

The three officers reluctantly complied, and soon found themselves in front of a low, rectangular building. The door opened and they proceeded past two columns of twelve guards each before finding another armored alien standing at the end of the corridor. He didn't budge as he spoke. "I am Hekkat. I am told you oppose the Dominion."

Sisko smiled slightly, happy that they finally understood. "Yes. I take it you do as well."

"Yes. These comrades of yours can be trusted?"

"They can. This is Lt. Commander Worf, my strategic officer, and Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax, my science officer."

"You, too, are able to conceal yourselves."

"True, but before we get to technical details, I would like to know who you are."

"We are Kredaile."

"Kredaile?"

"The Predators."

Barely half an hour had passed before the planet began to shake from an orbital bombardment. The Kredaile leader rushed back to his military readouts. Looking back up at the visitors, he said only one word. "Jem'Hadar."

Sisko leapt up, tapping his communicator. "Sisko to Defiant, three to beam up!" He paused for a moment. Nothing happened.

The alien leader straightened. "We have a jamming field in place to prevent Jem'Hadar from beaming in. We will send you in a shuttle. La'kec, take them."

One of the guards turned and took off at a lope, with the three visitors in tow. Almost as soon as they had left the building, Jadzia paused. "We can't leave without Odo. I'll get him and catch up with you at the shuttle." She turned to their guide. "Which way?" He pointed diagonally behind himself and she dashed off.

As Sisko and Worf continued towards the shuttle, they could see, off to their left, the orbital bombardment closing in on them. The Klingon was puzzled as the buildings fell much more quickly than he would have guessed, until he saw one collapsed a few blocks away. It was fake. He admired these Kredaile – their ingenuity might save them from the relentlessness of the Jem'Hadar. However, he had to take care of Sisko and the _Defiant_ first.

Suddenly, he caught sight of small craft flying in towards the city, glowing bright purple. Even without the color scheme, their shape and focused speed identified them. He pointed them out to his guide and took cover behind a building. "I will distract them. Get the Captain to the _Defiant_." He drew his phaser and took aim.

Sisko and his guide continued alone, running through the streets with the Jem'Hadar and their airships close behind them. They reached the shuttles, and the alien leapt into one, followed by Sisko. The guard paused. "We wait for your comrades."

Sisko was about to agree when he looked up and saw the airships above them. "No, we go!" The craft took off, barely avoiding a carpet of bombs that destroyed three more landed shuttles. "Take me to Worf. He's in the most danger."

The pilot brought the shuttle to a quick but smooth stop on top of one of the false buildings. Worf was fighting in the street below. Benjamin stepped out of the shuttle and fired his phaser into an attacking Jem'Hadar, shouting, "Worf! Up here!"

Worf turned and leapt up the building, digging his fingers into the soft walls and climbing. The Kredaile soldiers gave him covering fire, seemingly unconcerned about their own safety. The Klingon reached the shuttle and it took off again, passing under the airships headed in the opposite direction.

Captain Sisko didn't sit down, instead standing behind the pilot. "Release the changeling who came with us. We need him back." The pilot banked and flew towards the holding cell.

Odo heard part of the force field cell deactivate and quickly reformed himself into humanoid form. A light turned on from a corridor, and he could see an armored alien and Lt. Commander Dax standing in it. He quickly walked out on Jadzia's beckoning, and she nearly ran out and up to the street. Odo followed her just in time to see Jem'Hadar airships pass overhead and send a stick of bombs down on the building next to her. It buckled and fell, blocking her way.

The changeling could see a shuttle coming in for a landing behind the building. He ran to the wreckage and seeped through it, reaching the shuttle. The shuttle pilot glanced up, noting a squadron of airships closing in. "We must go."

Sisko looked at the building's rubble, then back at the pilot. "But – Dax!"

Jem'Hadar began to land around the shuttle's position. The pilot looked up again, pressing the urgency of the situation without breaking her calm. "We must go or we will be destroyed."

Benjamin gripped the back of the pilot's seat. "Give her one chance!"

As Dax rounded a different corner and came running towards the shuttle, Odo spotted too late a Jem'Hadar sniper aiming at her. He called out a warning, but none of the shuttle's occupants had time to act. The sniper fired.

A passing soldier swept his arm and clipped Jadzia's legs, sending her to the ground at the last instant. The sniper's shot dispersed harmlessly on the ground less than a meter from the Trill's feet. The alien helped her up with one arm, firing on the Jem'Hadar with the other.

The shuttle pilot took off, barely evading a stick of bombs and twisting tightly through thick crossfire. "We go. Now."

Jadzia took cover behind a building, and signaled the soldier to follow her. As he flattened against the wall, phaser rifle pointed diagonally at the floor, she drew her phaser. "I need to get to Hekkat," she said, lunging forward to shoot a Jem'Hadar rounding the corner.

"Very well. Follow." He ran around another corner of the building and fired, clearing the way for a few seconds. Dax came up behind him and they ducked into a door next to the building. It contained a turbolift, which led them under the decoy buildings and across the city to an enormous cavern.

The structure was clearly artificial, and the surfaces plated and polished. If she hadn't felt their descent, Jadzia would've said they were inside a building, or perhaps a starship. Her companion stopped and looked over his shoulder at her. "Welcome to the city of Kzar."

Hekkat, distinguishable by a small green circle on his helmet, stepped out of a doorway. He nodded at the Trill. "You must be returned to your ship."

"Yes," she replied. "If you lower the jamming field for just a few moments, I –"

"The jamming field will remain. Find another way."

"Well, I could use a shuttle to –"

"The Jem'Hadar would shoot you down."

"Or a cloaked ship –"

"The ships are not ready."

Dax exhaled, slumping her shoulders. "All right. Another way. Tell me about this jamming field."

Hekkat nodded at the soldier who had brought her, then turned and reentered the building from which he had emerged. The soldier led her off into the city.

Captain Sisko stepped onto the _Defiant_'s bridge, followed by Worf. Major Kira looked up and, for a moment, was surprised Dax was missing. Then she remembered what Sisko had reported as his shuttle had approached: "Dax is stuck down there. There might not be a way out."

There was no time to worry, though. The Jem'Hadar were closing, and the Kredaile shuttle was vulnerable. Sisko was giving orders, making up for the time lost in retrieving him from the shuttle. "Send the shuttle to the far side of the planet. Kira, keep tabs on all the Jem'Hadar ships. Let me know if any get close to the shuttle. Ensign Philips, attack pattern omega."

The _Defiant_ swerved upwards and flipped, descending on the tailing Jem'Hadar ship with phasers blasting. The attack caught them off guard and the ship erupted in a ball of fire. Two quantum torpedoes flashed out of their launchers as the _Defiant_ passed the remainder of the six-ship hexagonal formation and flipped again to face the lead. The two torpedoes struck the second ship in the formation, one on its weapons, and the other on one impulse engine. The shock forced the ship out of formation, sliding dangerously close to the other ships. The squadron broke formation just as the _Defiant_ passed, firing on the lead ship. The intensity of fire overloaded the ship's shields and cracked it in two.

Sisko released the breath he'd held throughout the maneuver. "Leave orbit and cloak, then come around the planet to the shuttle."

Kira looked up. "Sir," she exclaimed, "the shuttle's returning to the surface."

Sisko paused. The jamming field around the planet had probably already enveloped the shuttle. "Maintain orbit." He tapped his communicator. "Sisko to Odo. I need you on the bridge."

"On my way. Odo out."

When the shapeshifter arrived, Sisko gestured for Worf's attention. "We can't just leave Dax down there. Odo, assemble a rescue team. As many people as you need. It's at your discretion entirely. Worf, I want a plan. Again, use your discretion. Go."

Worf spun and marched off the bridge with an approving growl, happy to be doing something. Odo followed him out calmly.

Jadzia Dax exhaled sharply, bracing herself with both hands against the computer console. "I don't see a way to cut through this field." She looked over at the soldier who had accompanied her. "May I have the honor of knowing _why_ I'm stuck down here?"

The Kredaile turned. "You do not understand Dominion transporters. If we were to drop the field or weaken it, their transporters would be able to send thousands of Jem'Hadar to the surface in a few seconds. That is unacceptable."

"Isn't there some other way of blocking their transporters?"

"It is possible to use directed interference. It will last no more than ten seconds."

"That's enough. Get me to the surface, and let's do it."

The turbolift doors snapped open, and the soldier entered the commands on the lift's control panel, nodding to Dax. She stepped out of the doorway, tapping her combadge. It beeped acknowledgement.

"Dax to –" she was cut off, ducking under Jem'Hadar phaser blasts. The Trill quickly took cover behind the rubble of a building and tapped her badge again. "Dax to _Defiant_. One to beam up." She shimmered blue and began to fade.

The interference field snapped on automatically, blocking Dominion transport. Jadzia's transporter beam began to pulsate, then finally rematerialized her on the surface. As she recovered from the shock of a failed transport, a Jem'Hadar fired. She barely ducked out of the way, but the resulting blast threw a large metal fragment into her shoulder. She cried out in pain and fell down.

In an instant, the soldier was by her side, dragging her to cover. He began to inspect the Trill's wound when he heard the sound of a bouncing grenade. Looking up, he saw a white-glowing Dominion grenade adhering to the ground two meters from Jadzia. It had less than a second before detonation. He leapt on top of it, shielding her from the blast.

Jadzia looked across the rubble as the soldier's body flopped along it like a doll. She shivered. Despite her Starfleet training, it was never easy to watch someone die at close quarters. But there was no time to think. She didn't know whether he was dead; his armor had seemed impenetrable just moments before. Dax hauled herself up to her feet and dashed over to his body, keeping the Jem'Hadar's heads down with a few phaser bursts. She rolled the soldier onto his back and noticed that his armor was torn. It left much of his upper torso unprotected, and had caused a crack in the helmet, which had fallen off. She caught her first glimpse of a Kredaile face, and was struck by its resemblance to humans'.

The soldier glanced over towards the turbolift, but the grenade had wrecked it. He detached a grappling cable from his arm and fired it into the air. Far above them, it hooked onto the wing of a Jem'Hadar airship. He handed the cable to Jadzia and slumped down into the rubble. "Go."

Dax looked at the cable and knew she had to think quickly. She took the device and then grabbed the soldier by the torso with her unhurt left arm. Before he could react, they were whipped into the air. She swung back and forth two times, then flipped over and on top of the airship, landing on the cockpit. Using her phaser to blast the door off, she fell in as best she could. The Kredaile seized the pilot and threw him out the door as Jadzia shot the copilot. The two cleared the cockpit and took control of the ship.

The Trill winced as she steadied the ship. "So where are we going?"

"Kzar's shuttles were destroyed. We will fly to Plektag. It is a small city which the Jem'Hadar will not yet have bothered with. They will have shuttles."

"All right," Jadzia said, again wincing as she tried to sit back in her chair. "But let's get our wounds taken care of."

The Kredaile quickly engaged the autopilot and removed the emergency medkit from the cockpit ceiling. Despite Dax's protests, he insisted on treating her first. She had to grit her teeth to stay still as the soldier removed the shrapnel. He spoke as he treated her with a dermal regenerator. "I… I must thank you."

Jadzia paused. In the hours she'd spent discussing, researching, and fighting with the Kredaile, not once had any of them stuttered. Nor had they ever expressed thanks. This was obviously an unusual situation. "Why?"

The soldier took a deep breath. "You saved my life. Any Kredaile would have left me behind as a burden. When I leapt on the grenade, I knew I was condemning myself to death."

"Then why did you do it?"

"Your life was more valuable. I am simply a Kredaile soldier among millions. You are a senior officer on the Starfleet installation closest to us. Your Federation's friendship was worth more than another blade and phaser."

"Why wouldn't your friends have saved you? If I could with a wounded arm, I'm sure it would've been easy for them."

"You do not understand the Kredaile. We are soldiers. We cannot have friends in the ranks, or we risk compromising operations with personal feelings. My comrades would not have saved me because I would not be worth the risk." He pulled on his armor to show his torso. A fragment of the grenade had pierced through the thick, scaly skin on his upper chest and punctured something. A large stream of blood pulsed over the shrapnel, dying it pink. "My right heart is dead. I am a Var'dek – a fragile soldier. Fragile soldiers are too cautious. I cannot fight, so I am useless to my people."

Dax frowned, concerned by the parallels she saw with Klingon culture. If this man had been Klingon, he would have asked for a ritual suicide to ensure his death was honorable. She could only hope Kredaile beliefs were less draconian. "So what will you do?"

"I can no longer serve my people directly. Perhaps I can assist by association, through your Starfleet."

"Despite your… uselessness? In my experience with warrior races, the useless tend to die, by their own hand or others'."

The Kredaile shook his head. "You still do not understand. We are an efficient people. If there is nothing to be lost in letting me live, I live. I even believe there is still something to be gained through my existence."

"So you intend to return with me to the Alpha Quadrant."

"I do."

"It will be an important event, bringing a new ally back. Could I at least know the name of this event?"

"I presume you mean _my_ name."

"Yes."

The Kredaile lifted Dax to her feet and handed her the medkit. "Ervan."

Within a few minutes, the hijackers reached Plektag. They landed the ship and asked the town leader for a shuttle. He agreed after warning them of the Jem'Hadar ships still in orbit. "The other ship cloaked an hour ago. It hasn't been seen since then."

"They'll be there," Dax asserted. "Waiting for me."

"Very well. Take shuttle three. Good luck."

The shuttle took off, and emerged from the atmosphere on the other side of the planet from the Jem'Hadar. Dax hailed the _Defiant_, but received no acknowledgement. After a few tries, she stopped transmitting, afraid of attracting the Jem'Hadar's attention.

Ervan, his armor replaced, widened the shuttle's orbit. "I presume the best course of action is to return to the wormhole," he said, "but this shuttle has neither the range nor the speed to make that possible. We will need to take a fighter."

"Where can we get one?"

"We could dock at the station, but it is unarmed. To drop the cloak would be to invite a Jem'Hadar attack."

"Isn't there some way to keep them busy?"

"Our raiding parties could destroy the Jem'Hadar. They are on their way back, and will arrive in another half-hour."

"So we have to hold out until then."

"That will not be so simple." Ervan pointed at his sensor screen. The Jem'Hadar were coming around the planet. "They've found us."

As the Kredaile powered the shuttle to evade the Jem'Hadar, Dax began to input commands at her station. "What's our armament?"

"Light armor, navigational deflectors, lasers against meteor showers."

"_Lasers?_ We don't stand a chance!"

"They will not destroy us."

"Why not?"

The soldier inflated his chest proudly. "The Dominion has never captured a Kredaile. They have never even seen inside our armor. They will want to study me, given we can put up little resistance."

"Will they transport us?"

"No, our hull is opaque to their sensors. They would use the tractor beam."

"_Would_. You don't intend to let them."

"I would rather die than become a prisoner of the Dominion. You would not?"

"I don't know what they do to prisoners."

"You'd rather not find out." Ervan pressed a button on his armor and his helmet retracted into his backpack. He grinned at Jadzia as he flipped the shuttle down towards the planet. "But they'll have to catch us first."

The navigational deflectors surged as they sliced through the planet's atmosphere, leaving a sonic boom in their wake. Ervan had to shout over the noise. "The jamming field should disrupt their tractor beam lock."

Dax nodded, cautioning, "We can't get too low, though, or those airships will be all over us."

The shuttle dodged and swerved over the planet's surface, using the Jem'Hadar ships' huge size and inertia to outmaneuver them. True to the soldier's prediction, they never fired a shot. Twenty minutes into the chase, Jadzia shouted, "We have to leave the atmosphere! Navigational deflectors are going to fail!"

Ervan simply nodded and pulled up into space. As the Jem'Hadar ships emerged from the atmosphere, light blue gas rolling off their shields, they accelerated. They had regained the advantage. The Kredaile explained. "Our jamming field stops their transmissions as well as it stopped yours. They couldn't coordinate while in the atmosphere. Up here, though, they can use their numbers against us. I'll do my best, but they'll catch us eventually."

"If 'eventually' is ten minutes from now, it doesn't matter."

"I'm not confident about more than eight, but it won't do any good debating it." Ervan engaged full power to the engines, skirting the atmosphere and trying to hide behind the planet.

The Jem'Hadar deployed in a tetrahedral formation, moving to try to trap the shuttle. The Kredaile kept it out of their grasp for seven minutes, but he eventually found himself in the middle of a cage whose bars were tightening. The destroyers, scarab-like and threatening, closed upon them as predators. "Dax," Ervan said, calling the Trill's attention away from the frightening sight. "Listen carefully. On my signal I want you to give me white noise on all subspace frequencies. That might interfere long enough for us to escape, for a minute or two."

"All right. I'm ready."

The soldier took a deep breath and exhaled it sharply. "Now!" The shuttle lunged forward, slipping through one face of the tetrahedron. However, before he could make good his escape, one of the destroyers seized him in a tractor beam. As they felt the lurch, Ervan slumped forward in defeat. He stood up and began entering commands to the engine behind them.

Jadzia looked up from her console, asking, "What are you doing? We can't just give up!"

"We aren't," Ervan replied, "but we have to be ready for the worst. I'll wait until we enter their shields. Then I will set the reactor to detonate."

"That gives us another 20 seconds. Maybe 30."

The Kredaile seized Jadzia by the shoulders. "Dax," he said, "I'm frightened." He squeezed her shoulders a little. "May I?"

Jadzia paused a second, then realized what he meant. She smiled as best she could and stood. "Of course."

Ervan grasped her to him, closing his eyes. "Thank you."

The Trill thought she felt a tear soaking into the shoulder of her uniform when a sudden jolt rocked the ship. Immediately both of them were back in their seats. "The destroyer released its tractor beam."

The Kredaile smiled, pointing out the viewport. Two dozen craft not much larger than runabouts were uncloaking. "It's the fighters." He flew the shuttle through the fighters' formation as they began to swarm the Jem'Hadar.

As soon as it became clear that the fighters were keeping the Jem'Hadar busy, a large, obtuse cone rippled into view. Ervan wiped away what Jadzia was now sure had been a tear. "The station. We're safe."

The Kredaile landed the shuttle in the station's main shuttlebay, and opened a channel to the surface. The Jem'Hadar ships had been destroyed, allowing the planet to drop its jamming field. He spoke to Hekkat. "The Starfleet failed to retrieve Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax and their ship has disappeared. In my opinion, we should take her through the wormhole."

Hekkat nodded. "She will take a fighter. A squadron or a heavier ship may be too conspicuous. The mission will require experience – Ka'rech is to assemble a Class 1 crew."

"I will volunteer."

"You are qualified, but why?"

"I believe both we and the Starfleet could benefit from better understanding. I propose to become our representative and expert in the Alpha Quadrant."

"Why should we use a Class 1 pilot when any of us would be sufficient?"

"I am no longer a pilot. I am a Var'dek."

Hekkat bowed his head. "How?"

"I shielded the Starfleet's officer from a grenade. Shrapnel to the right heart."

He sighed. "Very well. Proceed."

As Ervan turned back to Dax, she looked at him with a smug grin. "Are you sure that's the only reason?" He raised his eyebrows slightly and smirked, bowing his head in silent concession. She chuckled lightly, amused. "I thought you said you couldn't have friends."

The soldier crossed his arms in front of his legs, his left hand grasping his right wrist. "Perhaps I… exaggerated. We _do_ have emotions; thus, it is unavoidable to make friends. But we keep them as far as possible from our work. It is expected for Kredaile to avoid military assignment with friends."

"But you volunteered for assignment with me."

"That is – a different matter. I am no longer a soldier."

The Trill could no longer help but laugh at his obvious discomfort. She put her hand on his shoulder. "It's not as different as you think."

The two soon arrived at the airlock to their assigned fighter, the _Zadt_. The ship was cramped, tapering from a standing height at the rear gunner's station to a reclined sitting height at the helm, four meters away. The ship was barely 2 meters across, but the passageway between the pilot and rear gunner was only one meter wide. It was flanked on either side by bunks, engineering access panels, and doors. One led to an escape pod, which contained the airlock, and the other to a lavatory. Ervan opened the door, beckoning Dax inside. "This is a three-person ship. Our last crewmember will arrive in half an hour, and we will depart. The trip will last two days. From the medical libraries transferred from your ship, we believe everything you will need is here, but if that is not so, it can be corrected."

Dax glanced around. "It looks adequate."

"Good."

"Now," the Trill said, closing the airlock, "since we have some time alone, I have a question to ask."

Ervan nodded. "Certainly."

She sat down on one of the bunks, waiting for him to do so as well before continuing. She looked him up and down, bemused. "Don't you ever take your armor off?"

"Only when sleeping, and even then only when we're safe."

"Why would you wear it on naval missions? Your shields serve you better than your armor."

"It is traditional. We do not show ourselves to enemies."

"I think you're safe taking it off. You should be more comfortable without it, and you must admit it serves little purpose here."

Ervan's shoulders relaxed, but his face still showed concern. "It is not frequently done."

Dax shrugged, smiling. "So? Try something new. You've already done a few unusual things today."

"Very well." Ervan sighed, standing up and pressing a release button. His armor unsealed along his right arm and peeled off. Underneath, he wore a thin, powder-blue tunic and pants that seemed to inflate as he released them from the armor's tight fit. He set the armor in his bunk and sat down, visibly relaxed. "I don't believe that was your question."

"No." Jadzia paused, as if bracing herself for something. "Back on the shuttle, when we were taken by the tractor beam, your actions surprised me."

"Ah?" he tilted his head slightly. "You did not object to my actions."

"No, but they don't fit my experience of warrior races."

Ervan looked puzzled. "I would predict almost any warrior race would do the same in my situation. We were going to be taken prisoner."

"Most of them would try to look brave."

"And not do what they could to continue fighting? It seems to me almost any soldier would rig the reactor under similar circumstances. You have nothing to lose, but you can rob your enemy of their prisoners and, possibly, their ship, simultaneously."

"No, no – that's not what I meant."

The soldier paused. For a moment, he simply sat with his brow furled, unmoving. Then his eyes widened slightly. "Oh. The embrace."

"Yes. I haven't met a single warrior species, from the Klingons to the Jem'Hadar, who would show fear at such a time."

"But… from what I understand, they are susceptible to emotion. Is fear an exception?"

"No. They feel fear, but they do not show it."

"Why not?"

"They see it as a weakness. They feel it would keep them from glory."

"Glory? What is that?"

Jadzia was surprised. She thought for a moment, puffing her cheeks out and letting her breath slowly leak out. "It's difficult to explain. It's a feeling of… pride, and honor… associated with skillful victory. But it's more complicated than that."

"In what way?"

"Easy victories are not glorious; they have to be hard-won. In addition, there is personal glory, which increases as more of the battle hinges on your decisions. However, it is also felt that personal involvement, engaging the enemy directly and not through command, is more glorious."

"I see. And this is important to them."

"Yes. Klingon culture, for example, centers on glory."

"They must make pitiful soldiers. If all the Klingons want to be heroic captains, no one will be left to guard their conquests or plan logistics or… fix the engines."

"They've often encountered such problems."

"That's not surprising."

"So you have no reservations about your fear? None at all?"

"No."

"And your actions?"

"I had come to the conclusion that there was nothing further I could do at the moment, but I was frightened. I decided I needed to do something to lessen my fear in order to be able to respond quickly if necessary."

Jadzia tried in vain not to smile. "So it had nothing to do with me. It was simply logical to hug your copilot."

He looked down, again caught off guard. "No, I – I also supposed that you, with similar emotions and different training, would be even more frightened. Also, you are a… a comforting individual. Both in appearance and in action."

The Trill smiled. "Is that a way of telling me I'm beautiful?"

Ervan bowed his head, conceding the point. "Yes."

"Thank you. I've never heard it in quite that way before."

"We still have a great deal to learn from one another." He laid down in the bunk, still looking at her. "Tell me… about peace. How does it feel? What do you do?"

"You've never been at peace?"

"Not in my lifetime. The Dominion has been here for centuries and isn't about to go away."

"Well, what we do is up to us. Each of us does what we want to."

"But there are still duties to be done. Are there people who want to do everything?"

"No, but they get done anyway. Since there are things that no one wants to do, we make them worth people's while by paying them."

"Paying… yes, I've heard of this kind of activity in the Dominion. Money is an odd thing to my people. It seems to be as bad for peace as glory is for victory."

"Sometimes, but usually we can get along peacefully with it. There are few who would really break the peace for money."

"I see that if I intend to live in the Alpha Quadrant, I have much to adapt to."

"I'm sure you'll be able to. You'll probably stay at least a few days on the station when we first go through the wormhole. While you're there, I'd be happy to help you adjust."

Ervan smiled and relaxed. "Thank you. I'm sure your help will be invaluable."

Jadzia laid down on her bunk, but before she could close her eyes, she heard the hiss of the airlock. Both she and Ervan got up, letting the soldier pass.

The Kredaile turned to them, and Dax noticed she was female. "I am Gesp." She looked almost blank. "I will be pilot. Ervan will be front gunner, and… _Dax_, rear."

Ervan nodded. "Very well."

"Rest." Gesp gestured at the bunks. "I will pilot first."


	2. Chapter 2

Ervan leaned closer to the sensors. _That shouldn't be there,_ he thought. _We have charts of ion storms._ He stood up. This was a dangerous storm. Although he hoped to sail around it, it would be wise to wake the rest of the crew.

Gesp awoke instantly, leaping down from her bunk and taking the helm. The Trill took a little longer, eventually shaking herself into consciousness and standing up. Ervan stood at the front gunner's station, taking measurements of the storm. He spoke to Dax as he investigated. "You are a science officer on your station?"

"Yes."

"Perhaps you can help. I can't seem to determine the origin of this storm."

Jadzia walked up behind Ervan, looking over his shoulder at his display. She was silent for a moment, then began to laugh. He looked back at her, concerned. "Have I overlooked something?"

She shook her head, placing one hand on his shoulder and pointing with the other at his screen. "I can't read the display. I strutted over like some pretentious genius and I can't even read the numbers."

When Ervan began to join her laughter, Gesp glared at them. "Focus."

Their mirth died down, but Jadzia stayed next to Ervan. She felt useless as the two Kredaile pilots manipulated the ship with years of experience. _At least,_ she mused, _I like _one_ of my chauffeurs._

Without warning, Gesp swerved, causing Ervan and the Trill to tilt before the inertial dampers kicked in. "What's going on?" she asked, steadying herself.

Ervan read his display. "The ion storm just made a wave. It's headed straight for us."

Gesp didn't look away from her window. "Going to full impulse power."

Dax tensed. "You can't outrun ion waves."

Ervan turned to her. "We don't have to. We're close enough to the edge to try to slip past it."

"All right." The Trill tried to relax. "Good luck." She felt even more a waste of space, standing behind two armored warriors, not understanding a word on their screens, flying through an ion storm so she could go home. Did she have the right to risk their lives for hers? Setting the thought aside, she looked out the window. Since she couldn't help, she might as well enjoy the view.

Outside, the storm rippled with purple-blue mists, tendrils woven together by sharp white needles of lightning. A great wave rose up, each wisp of ionized gas reminiscent of the whole. The Trill could almost feel the storms of the ancient, wind-powered water ships. The hull hummed under varying stresses. The shields surged against magnetic pulses, like sails rippling in the wind. Dark clouds and thunder tormented the sky, restless and powerful. It took a moment for her to realize the wave was almost upon them.

Gesp entered commands on the helm, pushing the fighter for all it could give. She looked back. "Impulse engines are at full power. There is nothing left to be done."

The three watched the wall of gas curl above them, a cosmic tidal wave charged with the wrath of ancient gods. It came swooping down on the other side of the ship, forming a narrow tunnel through which it flew. As the surface of the storm and the tip of the wave touched, they exchanged powerful lightning bolts which raged along the wave's edge. Jadzia shuddered, knowing the light-show was a warning of the danger they faced.

The Trill suddenly felt very alone. She was trapped, on a tiny ship caught in a deadly storm. Her only companions were an alien man who struggled to understand and an alien woman who didn't care about understanding. She had faced death many times before, but she'd never felt this meek before it. Abandoned by her friends and Starfleet, helpless, not even understanding what threatened her, she feared that her death would go unnoticed. Despite her eight lives, she had only one mind, with no second voice to comfort her. She curled up as best she could in her bunk and lay there.

Ervan put his hand on Dax's shoulder, squeezing it. "Dax…" he shook her lightly until she looked up at him. "You're afraid." He hesitated, then continued, trying to hold back and look polite. "I don't know what your species or culture finds comforting, but I am going to try something we use. I'm trying to help, so tell me if I do something bad."

He helped her off her bunk, and brought her to her feet. "Stand like this," he instructed, "and close your eyes." He stood relaxed, with his arms at his sides. She did the same. "Now, the rest is up to me."

He stood behind her, close, but not touching. He reached out and took her hands, first the left and then the right, and twisted her arms around his. Each movement was accompanied by a word in a short, chanted poem. "Ekkek… eriv… nunor… pamag." He then pulled each arm up and crossed it in front of her chest, stopping at the halfway point. He chanted a second line. "Ovad… ta niv… besuk… vetag." At the end of the second line, he pulled back gently, letting Jadzia fall on him, and he supported her weight. "Now we stay, for as long as you need."

Jadzia considered feeling ashamed of her fear. She had faced worse than ion storms, and she felt like a child, afraid of a thunderstorm, being held by her parents. Then she remembered Ervan's unexpected honesty with his fear. He had, no doubt, fought the Jem'Hadar hundreds of times before. He had no reason to be afraid when they had been caught in the tractor beam, but he'd accepted his fear. Jadzia decided she should do the same.

She continued to lean on him, and held his arms to her chest. "That's a beautiful rhyme. What does it mean?"

"Oh, it has little meaning."

"That doesn't matter."

"You're right," he chuckled, "it doesn't. It means, _We bind our hands to fuse our strength, so I will never let you fall._"

She kept her eyes closed, and began to smile. "How charming. Like a children's song."

"Yes, very much like one."

The two stood there with their eyes closed for a few moments, blissfully oblivious to the storm around them. Then, with no warning, the silence was interrupted by a deafening _zap!_. The fighter jolted, but Ervan managed to hold onto Dax and keep her from falling. As they recovered, Jadzia opened her eyes and gasped. Lying on the floor was the body of Gesp, smoking, next to a charred hole in the floor.

She ran over to the Kredaile, checking her pulse. She looked up at Ervan. "She's dead." Ervan bowed his head, lifting the corpse and setting it down on the transporter pad in the escape pod. He pressed a button and it transported the seared body into space. Jadzia looked at him. "I wonder… why her? Why is it that she died, and we were left alive?"

She was prepared to dismiss it as a philosophical question when the Kredaile tilted his head, as if considering something. "Yes…" he muttered, then turned to face her. "The armor. It's conductive."

She chuckled. "How ironic. Taking your armor off saved your life." Walking out of the escape pod, she glanced at the cockpit window, then turned towards it. "We've escaped the storm. That lightning bolt was a parting shot."

Ervan nodded in acknowledgement and knelt down by the hole in the floor, inspecting it. He looked up, his eyes wide with fear. "The cloaking device… it's destroyed. The Jem'Hadar can track us."

Dax turned around. "What do we do about it?"

Ervan shrugged. "Nothing. We run for the wormhole and hope the Dominion doesn't see us."

Dax shook her head. "I don't like those odds."

Ervan shook Jadzia gently, trying to wake her. "Dax… wake up. We're coming close to the wormhole."

She blinked, brushing off his hand to show she was awake. Yawning, she sat up. "You know, in my culture, we call friends by their first names."

"_First_ names? You rename yourselves?"

She couldn't help chuckling. "No – we have several names at once. Our first names denote us, and our last names usually indicate a family, or in my case, a symbiont."

Ervan raised his eyebrows. "I see. So… I've been addressing your symbiont, and you'd rather I refer to you as an individual."

She smiled. "Yes, I suppose that's it."

He turned away, sitting at the helm. "It's interesting how we take our own cultures for granted. So what _is_ your 'First Name'?"

"Jadzia."

"Oh." he laughed. "I… I thought that was a title."

This was enough to set them both to laughing. Jadzia braced herself on Ervan's shoulder, turning him to face her. "But I already… have a title."

"I thought this was part of it. Maybe… a degree of juniority."

"Well, there's only one Lieutenant Commander Jadzia in Starfleet, and she's just a Lieutenant Commander."

Ervan laughed, turning back to the helm. He looked at his sensor readings and his smile disappeared, his face turning white. Jadzia leaned over him. "What is it?"

"Two Jem'Hadar Destroyers," he whispered, "waiting for us."

"I saw a ship like this take out a Destroyer with ease. Couldn't we do that?"

"I'm sure it did, but it was cloaked and there was only one. I could probably take one out, but the other…"

"We'll just have to find a new approach."

Ervan turned to his sensor screen momentarily. "Whatever it is, we need to know it soon. They're coming after us."

"All right. How is it you usually fight these things?"

"In swarms, with phase-cloaked photon torpedoes. It takes two hits to destroy one, but we've only got three. We can't take them both out."

"Could you incapacitate one?"

"No, their shields and weapons are redundant."

Jadzia exhaled, trying to think of ways to escape. "Okay. Do they have a blind spot?"

"One right behind their engines, but it's not large enough to stay in reliably."

"Could we widen it if we hit a particular system?"

Ervan paused, thinking, then slapped the arm of his chair. "Of course! The sensors!" Dax looked at him, and he explained. "Their sensors are centralized. If we take out those sensors, they'll have to target by hand, and we can get away."

She nodded. "All right, let's do it."

Ervan held up one hand. "Hold on. Our torpedoes are shorter-range than their weapons. We have to find a way to survive to get into range. We usually cloak, but that's not possible."

She looked down, biting her lip as she thought. "Could we confuse their sensors?"

"How?"

"By launching the escape pod."

"That'd only work for a few seconds… but that's all we need. Good."

The fighter surged forward at full speed, straight towards the two insectoid destroyers. As they neared weapons range, the Jem'Hadar slowed to impulse, but the fighter continued at warp. Just as it dropped to impulse, it ejected the escape pod, confusing the Dominion sensors. The Kredaile ship veered right, firing two torpedoes at one ship, then reversed and fired one at the other. A moment later, the first destroyer erupted into a ball of flame, and the second suffered an explosion in the bow. Before they could recover, the fighter had gone back to warp, destroying its escape pod as it fled.

Ervan let out his breath. "We did it!"

Dax put her hand on his shoulder, looking out the window. "Yes. Now let's get back to DS9."

The computer beeped a warning on the helm's sensor screen. Ervan looked down. "I spoke too soon, they're after us. Hold on, it's going to be close!"

The fighter dropped to impulse as it passed the Federation's subspace relay. Behind it, the Jem'Hadar did the same. They fired, but the fighter dodged and swerved, avoiding the hand-aimed shots. The Kredaile ship spiraled into the wormhole just as the Destroyer fired one last shot. It was a direct hit.

Major Kira tapped her combadge. "Kira to Sisko. Something's coming through the wormhole."

The Captain's voice spoke through the badge's speaker. "On my way." Within moments, he had stepped out of his office and into Ops. He looked at Dax, sitting at the sensor station. "What have we got?"

She tapped a few buttons, then looked up. "It seems like a piece of a ship. In fact, it looks a lot like the ships those Kredaile were using."

"On screen." Sisko turned to the viewscreen. "Any life signs?"

"Two, but they're unstable."

He nearly ran to the turbolift, beckoning for Dax to follow. "Beam them out of there and directly to sick bay. Dax, you're with me. Major, you have Ops." He tapped his combadge. "Sisko to Bashir. You've got two patients beaming in." He paused, then looked up at the turbolift. He smirked and shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Promenade."

As he walked into the infirmary, the Captain froze. Bashir and a nurse were helping a Kredaile into one of the beds, and Dax was next to them on another bed. He glanced back at Dax behind him. Turning to Julian, he asked, "What's going on?"

"It looks like they depressurized for a few seconds. Nothing serious, but –" the doctor looked up, and very quickly became silent.

"Computer," Sisko said grimly, looking up at the lights. "Seal off the infirmary with force fields." The station computer responded, and golden sparkles flashed at the doors, sealing the room. "Doctor, I want a blood test on everyone here."

Bashir nodded equally gravely. "Yes, sir." He walked slowly around the room, collecting a blood sample from each person and patient and inspecting it, but none of them melted into the characteristic amber liquid which denoted a changeling. He tested the nurse, then had her test him, but there were no changelings in the room.

Sisko took a deep breath and sat down on one of the infirmary beds. "Doctor, are the patients fit to talk?"

Julian reached over to the Dax on the bed with a hypospray and injected her. "They are. Go ahead."

"All right, Old Man, what happened?"

Jadzia looked up at him from her bed, still weak from the decompression. "You… you left me on the Kredaile planet."

"Yes, but we got you –" he paused and pointed at the Dax standing next to his bed. "her – back. What happened?"

"I don't know. You tried to get me back, but the transport failed. Ervan…" she gestured with her head towards the Kredaile, who was already sitting up. "He saved my life, and brought me back."

The Dax who was standing furrowed her brow. "Failed transport, two of the same person… is anyone else getting a _déjà-vu_ of the Thomas Riker incident?"

Sisko nodded. "We should check the transport logs. Computer," he called, turning to a panel in the infirmary. "Access transport logs, _USS Defiant_, stardates 49273.6 to 49273.8. Display them here." The computer beeped, and a record of the ship's transporter activity appeared on the panel. He moved down the list until he found the log corresponding to Dax's transport. He looked at the details. "Just as I thought. Two confinement beams."

"Well." Julian sighed. "What do we do now?"

Benjamin shrugged. "We go back to our posts. But first…" he turned to face the two Daxes. "We need to find a way to tell you apart. Either of you willing to change names?"

"I don't know," the Dax who had stayed on Kredaile said. "I like my name. I'd be sorry to lose it."

"Me too," the other Dax agreed. "Is there another way?"

Julian stepped forward. "Nicknames. I'll call you Dax Alpha –" he said, turning to the Dax who had escaped Kredaile, "and you –" he pointed to the other Dax – "Dax Gamma."

"But how do we tell them apart physically?" Sisko inquired.

Dax Alpha let down her hair. "This will do for now, I think."

Sisko nodded. "All right. I want a senior staff meeting at 0930 hours. That means both Daxes." He looked at Dax Gamma, gesturing to the Kredaile. "And bring along… what did you say his name was?"

"Ervan."

Ervan entered the briefing room behind the Jadzia he knew. Sisko sat at the head of the table, with the rest of the senior staff on either side. The Trill and her clone collided comically when they both tried to sit down in what was probably a habitual spot. He looked around the room, spotting three open seats. He took one and the Dax whom he didn't know sat next to him. They were apparently still waiting for someone, as they still sat, talking.

Dax Alpha turned to the Kredaile."So, I understand I spent two days on a fighter with you."

Ervan nodded. Despite her resemblance to the Dax he knew, she intimidated him. He feared making a bad impression on one would sour his friendship with the other. "There was a third crew member, but she died."

"Oh." She seemed disturbed by that, but apparently set it aside as she smiled. "I hope I didn't make a fool of myself."

Again he hesitated. He knew exactly what he would say to the other Dax, but he decided to venture a guess that their temperaments were similar. Smiling, he replied. "No more than I did."

She chuckled. "Things must have gotten pretty intimate in such a small ship."

He tilted his head questioningly. "Intimate? What does that mean?"

Dax Alpha was about to explain when Worf walked in and sat down, signaling the beginning of the debriefing. The Captain turned to Dax Gamma. "So, as we all know, there have been some uncommon events recently, but they're pretty well understood. What I need to know is what happened out there, Dax, and anything relevant about the Dominion."

Jadzia looked across the table at Sisko. "My experience there was only two days long, and very much incomplete. However, we have a Kredaile here who's lived his whole life surrounded by the Dominion. I can't personally vouch for anything he might have to say, but I trust him."

Sisko sat forward. "All right. Mr. Ervan, could you begin by telling us about your people?"

Ervan stood. "My people are soldiers, fighting a guerilla war against the Dominion. We operate out of a cloaked planet-ship, which is why the Dominion has difficulty finding us. No doubt since the Jem'Hadar traced the _Defiant_ to our planet, it has been moved elsewhere."

Sisko nodded. "And you use phased cloaking devices."

"Yes. They permit us to move through matter as well as hide ourselves from enemies."

"Yes, we've made one too. Now what about the political situation of the Kredaile? Would they be willing to ally themselves with us?"

"I believe so. I'm sure we'll have conditions, but I don't see any reason why not, and I don't think _we_ will."

"And what about other groups? Does anyone else you know of resist the Dominion?"

"There are a few resistance cells from various conquered planets, but they rarely survive very long. If we learn of them before their deaths, we extract them and add them to our forces, so there is still only one political entity."

"Thank you. Starfleet will have more questions later. Now…" he took a breath. "We have a mission. Starfleet wants to send a diplomatic envoy to the Kredaile to work out an alliance. They want you," he nodded at Dax Gamma – "and your Kredaile friend, to come along as advisors. We'll be taking the _Defiant_." He looked around the room. "For the rest of you, this is a volunteer mission. We'll be charging headlong into Dominion space, so you know it won't be easy."

Chief O'Brien was the first to speak. "The _Defiant_ isn't going anywhere without me."

Worf leaned forward. "You will need a tactical officer."

One by one, the entire senior staff volunteered. Ervan was gratified. Volunteers always did better than assigned men, and their lack of hesitation spoke well for their tolerance of him.

The captain's office doorbell beeped, and he set down his PADD. "Come in."

Lt. Commander Dax walked in, her hair loose. Sisko judged that this was the Dax who had materialized on board the _Defiant_. She paused at the door. "Benjamin, do you have a minute? It's about the transporter accident."

He gestured for her to take a seat. "Of course. What can I do for you, Old Man?"

Before she could respond, Sisko's combadge beeped, carrying Dax's voice. "Dax to Sisko."

He tapped his badge in response. "Sisko here."

"Benjamin, do you have a minute? It's about the transporter accident." Both Dax Alpha and Sisko erupted in laughter. "What?" Dax Gamma asked.

"Dax – the other Dax – is up here now," Benjamin explained as his laughter died down. "And she just asked the same thing."

"Well, maybe we could discuss it together."

Sisko glanced at Dax Alpha for approval. She nodded, adding, "I was about to suggest that."

"I'll be right up."

"We'll be waiting." Sisko sat back in his chair and tapped his combadge to end the transmission.

A few moments later, Dax Gamma walked in. Sitting down, she began. "Benjamin, the both of us can't stay here."

"Why not? Are you uncomfortable with each other?"

"No, but it'll be confusing for everyone, including us. It would go against the Trill tradition of experiencing life. But furthermore… I'd have to leave Starfleet."

The captain sat up. "_What?_"

She nodded. "They want me for a secret assignment in three weeks. Indefinite duration, a reassignment from my current post. That's all I even know."

"So one will stay and one will have to go."

"Not _one_," Dax Gamma corrected. "They want me in particular."

Sisko sighed. "All right. I'm sorry I won't miss you." He smiled towards Dax Alpha. "But… three weeks. Right?"

She chuckled. "Three weeks."

The changeling stepped off the transport, keeping an eye on Ambassador Vork. Posing as one of the Zakdorn's aides, its assignment was to sabotage the Kredaile-Federation talks. If the Dominion's two worst enemies joined forces, the Jem'Hadar would be hard-pressed. Fortunately, if things went well, the changeling could find the Kredaile _and_ stop the negotiations in one quick stroke. Given the Federation's openness, it saw no reason why things could possibly go wrong.

Captain Sisko was waiting for the ambassador with a greeting party. The changeling already knew the people he was going to present from intelligence reports, though it was still uncomfortable being near a changeling on the other side. Benjamin bowed slightly. "Ambassador Vork, welcome. May I present my first officer, Major Kira Nerys; Constable Odo, chief of security; Lt. Commander Dax, science officer; and Ervan, our Kredaile liaison."

The changeling shifted, looking at the Kredaile. It had never seen their faces before, and found them disappointingly similar to many other solids. The rest of Ervan's body was still under the traditional armor, but he was clearly humanoid. Although fascinated, it was also sorry the mysterious Kredaile were so unoriginal. It had been looking forward to something exotic.

Vork bowed a greeting to each of the welcoming party. Sisko swept his arm towards the hallway. "Major Kira will show you to your quarters. We are scheduled to depart this evening at 2200 hours."

The ambassador stepped out of the airlock, gesturing to Kira. "Lead on." The Bajoran led her out and the changeling followed.

Dax Gamma had just changed out of her dress uniform when her combadge beeped. "O'Brien to Dax." he paused, then added, "Gamma."

She tapped her badge. "What is it?"

"You might want to come down to Quark's. There's a slight problem with Ervan."

She stood up, turning off the lights on her way out of her quarters. "On my way."

Dax Gamma entered Quark's and looked around. The bar was a little over its usual level of traffic because of the discovery. Many people had arrived and were on a waiting list to examine or interview Ervan after his return from their mission. She saw him walking over to Bashir and O'Brien at a table near the darts board, carrying two drinks. She approached just as he was setting the drinks down in front of the two. She pulled a chair up, looking at O'Brien and Ervan. "What seems to be…" She trailed off as Ervan turned away from the table. She looked up at him, walking back towards the bar, then over at Chief O'Brien.

The engineer gestured toward the Kredaile. "It's Quark. He's got Ervan into believing he has to wait tables in return for our hospitality. 'It's an Alpha Quadrant custom,' he says."

Jadzia chuckled, looking down at the floor. "You couldn't talk him out of it?"

Miles shook his head. "Quark got to him good. I don't know what he said, but that man's dead fixed on waiting tables every day for three hours."

She shook her head, standing up. "I'm on it."

She found Ervan, a few tables away. "Ervan!" she called, gesturing. "Come over here."

He walked over, glancing down at a PADD. "Jadzia. What can I get for you?" he said, smiling blankly.

She shook her head. "Ervan, I don't want a drink. We need to talk."

His brow creased. "I'm sorry, I'm a little busy right now. Excuse me." He turned to walk away, but Jadzia grabbed him by the arm. "It's about this work you're doing. You don't have to do it."

He turned back around. "I do. The proprietor explained about Federation hospitality." He picked up an empty glass from a nearby table and started walking toward the bar.

"What?" she followed him, dodging her way past the jumble of tables. "What did he say?"

Ervan picked up a tray of synthehol whiskey and started carrying it upstairs. He spoke with an almost perfect imitation of Quark's voice, gesturing with his head since his hands were occupied. "The _hu-mans_ always give hospitality because they expect something back. They're embarrassed about it, and so they pretend it's unnecessary, but it's something all _hu-mans'_ guests are expected to do. If you don't, they get angry."

Jadzia exhaled, slightly shocked by Quark's blatant exploitation of the Kredaile's inexperience. "That's not true! Besides, you're doing a lot for us already by giving us information about the Dominion. Why do you need to do manual labor?"

Ervan nodded. "Just as Quark predicted, you deny and look for things I've already done to justify. A test of my altruism."

"No." she was beginning to get frustrated. "Ervan, listen to me. He's tricked you. You don't have to do this."

Ervan didn't respond, instead carrying on in his work. Dax grabbed him by the shoulders, turned him around, and pushed him into a chair. "Ervan, stop what you're doing and listen to me." Finally, he abandoned the drinks and turned to face her. She sighed and put her hands down across the table. "Quark is a Ferengi. Ferengi are notorious for their devotion to profit, and are some of the most experienced exploiters in the quadrant. Look it up on the computer. He's tricked you into thinking this is your duty so he can get someone to work for him without paying them."

The Kredaile's forehead creased again. "I've been manipulated."

She let out a breath, smiling. She had gotten through. "Yes."

He looked down. "How pathetic of me. I'm sorry."

Jadzia got up, gesturing for him to follow her back down the stairs. "No, it's all right. You didn't know. I'm just glad I got to you before you wasted three hours."

Ervan chuckled. "It's rather embarrassing. Here I was, running all around the bar making profit for him because I thought I had to repay you."

Dax led him out of the bar, walking over to the replimat. The two took a table and sat down. "I'd better keep an eye on you or you'll embarrass yourself all over the station."

He nodded. "Maybe so. Thank you."

She stood up, turning towards the replicators. "No problem. I can assure you you'll never have to do services for our hospitality. You have my promise we'll be honest with you. Oh, can I get you something?"

The Kredaile looked up at her, baffled. She grinned at what she realized was an ironic question, and walked over to the replicator.

Worf approached from the promenade. He did not sit down, but leaned in by the side of the table. "So. You are the Kredaile."

Ervan looked up. "Ah, the Klingon."

Worf inclined his head. "I would appreciate the chance to train against you."

The Kredaile nodded. "Under normal circumstances, I would defeat you." Worf grunted angrily at this provocative comment. Oblivious, Ervan continued. "Fortunately, my dead heart is a sufficient handicap. When and where would you like to hold this training?"

"1400 hours. Holosuite two."

"That is feasible. I will be ready."

The Klingon walked away without another word.

Dax returned from the replicator, bearing a tray of food. "I didn't know what you wanted, so I just took for myself," she explained apologetically. "I don't even know if you know our food."

Ervan gestured dismissively. "It's no matter. I'll find something. Excuse me." He stood up and went to the replicator. As he paused for a moment to consider, someone tapped his shoulder. He turned around to find the captain standing in line behind him. The Kredaile immediately stepped aside. "I… apologize, I didn't know there was a senior officer here."

Sisko shook his head. "That's not how things work here. Whoever got in line first, gets their food first. I wanted to suggest something, since you seemed unsure what to get." Ervan gestured for Benjamin to continue, and he did. "Why don't you ask for… Rigelian Oros soup? That's fairly middle-ground."

Ervan inclined his head in thanks and turned back to the replicator. "Computer, Rigelian Oros soup." The replicator cavity glowed and a bright yellow bowl appeared containing a dark purple liquid and a metal spoon. He took it and walked back to his seat with Dax.

The Trill leaned over to look in his bowl. "Oros soup. Someone's advice?"

Sisko tapped her shoulder as he passed. "Mine."

She turned to look at him. "Benjamin, I didn't know you were going to eat here."

He lifted a small pot of powder. "I'm not. I needed these spices for lunch, and they're one of the few things the replicator gets right."

"Why come all the way here?"

"I needed to stretch my legs. I've been cooking an hour already." He smiled at her surprise. "Kasidy's coming over."

"Oh." she smirked. "Enjoy yourself." Benjamin simply nodded and walked off.

Ervan tilted his head sideways. "Who is Kasidy?"

"His… romantic interest."

"What is that?"

"Well… when people have mutual affection – love – they often do many things together. Before a complete consummation such as marriage or mating, most go through a transitory stage. They… investigate each other, and enjoy each other's company. That is a romantic interest."

"Ah. Does everyone have one?"

"No."

"But this kind of love is not perforce reciprocated."

"No. One-sided love has made many people unhappy. However, if it is serious, it is frequently reciprocated, and from that an even greater number derive great happiness."

"I see. How is a romantic interest started? Love is not visible."

Jadzia chuckled. "Sometimes it is, in people's behavior. But usually, one person declares their love for the other, and the other responds, either by accepting or refusing."

"Accepting or refusing what?"

"Oh." she grinned. "I'm sorry, it didn't occur to me that you didn't know. Typically, the suggestion of love is first presented through an invitation to spend time together. It tends to be a meal, or maybe a holoprogram."

"Holograms… for entertainment." Ervan nodded hesitantly. "Yes, Quark told me about this. You have such a convoluted mating process."

"It's not just mating. As you know, most of us mate for life. We draw companionship and friendship from each other as well."

"I understand. We do the same, but… more simply. It is assigned, announced, and it is done."

Jadzia shrugged. "What can I say? Tradition is Byzantine."

Two hours later, Ervan walked into holosuite two in full armor, his helmet deployed. Worf sat at the far end of the room, practicing with a blade. The Klingon looked up. "You have come. Guard yourself. Computer," he said, looking slightly up. "Open terrain. Igneous rock." A rock formation formed around the combatants, cold, hard, and almost flat.

The Kredaile straightened. "I assume there are rules."

Worf nodded. "Only two. No ranged weapons, no killing."

Ervan reached over to his left arm. From it he pulled a three-bladed, handled claw which he attached to the front of his cuff. Wrapping his hand around the handle, he tested its rigidity, and then repeated the process with his other arm. Then he crouched and spread his arms wide, the claws pointing downwards at the rock. "I am ready."

Worf charged, his right hand clutching his blade. He sliced at Ervan, who effortlessly ducked the blow. The Kredaile slashed low, but his opponent leapt back.

Ervan straightened again. "This will be interesting. Good luck." He lunged forward, sweeping at Worf's midsection, but he parried. Before the Klingon could take advantage of his position, though, his enemy had pulled out of the parry and was jabbing with the other claw while winding the first one up.

Worf slid out of the way, beaming with excitement. "A challenge."

Sisko startled as his combadge beeped. "Odo to Sisko." He shook his head to clear it, and tapped to respond.

"What is it, Odo?"

"Sir, Worf and Ervan have been training hand-to-hand."

"Yes, and?"

"Well, sir, they've been in the holosuite over two hours. Quark's had time to set up two betting pools on them."

"_Two_?"

"Yes. One for the winner and one for when, and if, they'll come out of there."

"All right, I'll take care of it." The captain ended the transmission and sighed. Although he was a good officer, Worf was prone to overdoing some things. Training was one of them. He tapped his combadge again. "Sisko to Worf."

Worf took a few seconds to respond. "Worf here."

"I need you to come up to Ops. I have an assignment for you. Bring Ervan, it's for him too."

"Aye, sir."

When the two arrived, still in training clothing or battle armor, Benjamin could tell they had been working hard. Worf's clothes were torn in several places, a few of which had spots of blood. Ervan was hard to judge physically under his armor, but his retracted helmet allowed the captain to see beads of sweat and a flushed face. "All right. I have a special mission for the two of you. Our lives may all depend on your success tonight in the Gamma Quadrant. I want you two… to get some rest. Now."

Worf looked offended, while Ervan simply nodded and turned to go. The Klingon hesitated a moment, then turned and left the office. "Yes, sir."

Captain Sisko walked onto the _Defiant_'s bridge along with Ambassador Vork and her aides. Sitting down, he turned to face the Zakdorn. "Are you ready for departure, Ambassador?"

She nodded. "I'd like to stay on the bridge to observe for a while, but –" she turned to her aides – "you, go get some rest. I'll need you to wake up early to get those reports ready."

The two aides left, and Vork turned to watch the view screen. Sisko rotated his chair to face forward. "Release docking clamps. Reverse thrusters one-quarter."

The _Defiant_ slid nimbly away from the station and lined up with the wormhole. As it opened, the ambassador sighed in admiration, and didn't take her eyes off the screen until they had emerged into the Gamma Quadrant.

The captain, however, had been watching the sensors. He looked up at the helm, then back toward the tactical officer. "Engage cloak. Lay in a course for the Kredaile planet's last known position at warp seven."

"Aye, sir." The helmsman rotated the ship and engaged the engines. He glanced back at the tactical officer as the stars smeared on the screen in front of him.

Worf, at the tactical station, entered a command, then looked over to the captain. "Cloaking device engaged, sir."

Dax Gamma walked onto the bridge. "Benjamin."

Sisko looked back. "What can I do for you, old man?"

"How do you intend to find the Kredaile planet? I'm sure it's evaded countless Dominion searches."

"We've got Ervan working on that now. He seemed pretty confident."

She turned to leave. "I'll go help him."

The door slid open, and Ervan stepped in, followed by Dax Alpha. The Kredaile had overheard the conversation and commented, "That won't be necessary."

The changeling posing as Dax Gamma looked at her counterpart and panicked. It didn't know about the transporter accident and assumed it had been discovered. It lashed out, stunning the occupants of the bridge, and melted through a vent near the floor. Ervan spun around as he saw the changeling melt, letting his back take the blow. As he turned back to face it, he saw the spy melting into the vent and fired. The Founder exploded like a water balloon, spraying the bridge with a thin orange liquid.

Sisko wiped his face with his hand, slowly turning towards Ervan. He shook the liquid off his hand as he spoke. "Well done. How did you know?"

The Kredaile shook his head. "I didn't know. I reacted quickly. I was trained to do this."

Dax Alpha turned to Sisko. "Knowing the changelings, they'll probably have the other me locked up somewhere."

Sisko looked at his sensors officer. "What do the internal sensors say?"

The officer shrugged, turning to face the captain. "Internal sensors are off-line. No idea."

Dax Alpha tapped her combadge. "Dax Alpha to Dax Gamma." She waited, then repeated her call. There was no response.

The doors hissed open and one of the ambassador's aides came running in, panicked. "Ambassador!" he panted. "Aide Nagak's dead!"

Sisko turned to the sensors officer. "Run a diagnostic on the sensors. Find where they've been sabotaged. You –" he turned to the aide – "show me the body." The aide dashed off, with Sisko, Ervan, and Dax Alpha behind him.

By the time they arrived, Doctor Bashir was there, having been called by the aide. He looked up from the body on the lower bunk as the four stepped into the small quarters. "Simple enough. Phaser, set to kill, right on the heart. There was a suicide note in his hand." Julian nodded toward the top bunk, indicating the note.

The aide took the note and read it, shaking his head. "This isn't right. Nagak would never have killed himself, and he had dealt with most of the problems he cites here."

Julian was about to comfort the aide for the usual disbelief of suicide when Ervan pushed him aside and climbed into the top bunk. "He has a point. Observe." The Kredaile took the phaser from the body and attempted to line up to shoot himself similarly. His elbow extended too far into the bunk and hit the top. Sitting up, he shook his head. "Too awkward. A suicidal man would've gone for something simpler. I think this is a murder."

"Wait a moment…" Bashir looked down at his tricorder, confirming his readings. "I'm reading high levels of kytolene in his systems. Wouldn't have noticed it but for what you suspected." Sisko looked at him and the doctor explained. "Preservatives."

Dax exhaled, puzzled. "Who would want to kill a man, preserve him, and then make it look like a suicide?"

Ervan jumped down from the top bunk. "A changeling. Switching impersonations."

Sisko snapped his fingers, pointing diagonally up. "Dax!"

"Yes. If the changeling wanted to replace Jadzia permanently, it would've done this. Unfortunately, it would also have killed her."

"No," Sisko countered, "it didn't have time. It had barely two minutes between leaving the bridge as Nagak and entering it as Dax."

"And during that time it would've also disabled the sensors."

Dax shook her head. "This whole thing is sloppy. Hasty. Unlike the Founders."

Ervan glanced at her. "Not necessarily. It's safe to assume the sensor failure was sabotage as well. I believe this changeling was under great pressure and came across an unexpected circumstance."

Sisko nodded. "Going too fast and a bump in the road throws you for a loop."

The Kredaile stepped out the door, looking for an access panel. He'd soon found it, and he began to pace from the door to the bridge to room, pausing next to the panel and other places on the path. He licked his lips pensively, explaining to the others. "I'm trying to recreate the path the changeling would've taken. Even under pressure, they're creative. It wouldn't have put her in any of the rooms, so there are… three possibilities." He named the possible locations as he passed them. "Turbolift– ceiling– or he could've vaporized her, but we won't find her then."

Sisko stepped up to the turbolift, and the doors snapped open. It was empty. He turned around in time to see Ervan remove a ceiling panel and jump up through the opening, but he dropped back down a second later. They looked at each other. Sisko bowed his head in memorial. "The galaxy could've used a second Dax."

"Just a moment," Dax Alpha bit her lip, thinking. She gestured toward Ervan. "We were in that turbolift when he must have done this. He couldn't have put her in there…" She slumped as she realized her statement made no difference. "So she's dead."

The Kredaile suddenly straightened. "He couldn't have entered the turbolift… but he could've gotten to the shaft." Sending the lift away, he opened the doors and looked down. At the bottom of the lift shaft was a body in a blue Starfleet uniform. Ervan looked up, seeing a turbolift car approaching. He jumped into the shaft.

Sisko and Dax Alpha recoiled as the turbolift door snapped shut. The Trill's eyes widened. "Oh no…"

Ervan bent over Dax Gamma's body, cushioning its impact with the turbolift. He heard a loud _crack_ and realized he had broken his leg. He had blasted a hole in the lift's floor, and it had automatically stopped – a little too late. He hoisted himself in, pulling Dax's body up with him. He looked up to see that the turbolift had been empty.

Ervan rolled the body onto the floor of the turbolift. He deployed his helmet, turning on the armor's medical sensors and murmuring to himself. "Apparently it didn't even have time to change the phaser setting. Light stun… five minutes." He tapped Dax's combadge. "Ervan to Sisko. Can you beam us out?" There was no response. With great difficulty, he stood and opened the escape hatch, but found himself looking up straight into an emergency bulkhead. Sitting down, the Kredaile retracted his helmet and waited.

Sisko hit the console in frustration. "Damn!" He tapped his combadge. "Sisko to O'Brien. What's going on?" He waited, but nothing happened. Shaking his head, he gestured to Dax Alpha. "Get to Engineering. I'll be on the bridge. Doctor, stay here in case they got through." They both nodded and split up.

Benjamin stepped onto the bridge and almost charged at the sensors officer. "What's going on? Communications is down, too."

"I don't know, sir. My diagnostics are gibberish." She pointed to a readout with what seemed to be a random jumble of letters in a single immense paragraph.

"Well, then. Come with me, let's look at that access panel."

Dax Alpha walked the distance to Engineering, afraid to use the turbolift. As she stepped in the door, she called to O'Brien. "Chief, we need you."

He turned around. "What's the problem?"

"Internal sensors and communications are down, and we think they're sabotaged. Ervan and Dax Gamma are stuck in a turbolift shaft, or… maybe crushed… and the shaft's emergency bulkheads closed."

He paused for a moment, considering the information. "All right." He looked back at the other engineers, gesturing to people as he instructed them. "Lieutenant, work on the sensors. You, get those com lines up. Quique, unlock the bulkheads. I'm going to find out what caused the problem."

Dax interrupted him. "We have an idea about that already. This way." She led him out.

When he arrived, she opened the access panel. The wires were tangled and looked like a mess. After a single look at them, he looked up. "Someone cross-circuited this… Dangerous, but not hard to reverse. It'll take me about fifteen minutes. Meanwhile, make sure no one puts in any commands to the computer. There's no telling what it might do." She nodded and walked off to deliver the message.

Dax Gamma sat up, still slightly numb from the phaser beam. As soon as he noticed her consciousness, Ervan reached over, gently pushing her back down. "Calm yourself. You're safe."

"What happened?" She began to take notice of her surroundings, which continued to puzzle her. "The last I remember, I was walking and… someone shot me in the back."

Ervan nodded. "A changeling impersonating one of the Ambassador's aides. It stunned you and threw you down the turbolift shaft, then took your shape. I killed it."

The Trill tried to focus her thoughts. "Turbolift _shaft_."

"Yes. I jumped down to retrieve you, but one of the lifts was on its way down. I had to blast inside."

"Was there anyone in here?"

"No."

"Why are _we_ still in here? Are we stuck?"

The Kredaile nodded. "Trapped. No communications."

"Is there anything we can do?"

"No." He shifted his leg and winced, sucking in a breath.

Jadzia sat up and leaned over towards him. "You're hurt."

"Yes. Could've been much worse, given the circumstances."

"During the jump?"

"No, protecting you from the impact. I wasn't in the best position. I had just landed."

"You saw it coming." her expression darkened.

"Yes."

"But you jumped? You could've been killed."

"Yes."

She sighed, turning to face him directly. "You can't just go off throwing your life away every chance you get. If someone else had been here, and I was up there, I would've stopped you."

Ervan hesitated a moment, then shook his head. "No…"

"What?"

"I wouldn't… have done that for someone else. Logically, it's not worth it."

"Then why did you do it for me?"

"I'm not… sure. It's irrational."

She hesitated, then smiled, answering. "Most of us are. We even have a word for what you're feeling."

Ervan looked intrigued. "What is it?"

Jadzia put her hand on his. "Love."

Ervan paused. "So I am… in love with you."

Dax Gamma nodded. "At least, I'd like to think so."

"I see… what do I do about it?"

She held up a hand. "No, no… don't take my word for it. Verify it yourself."

"How?"

"Well…" she hesitated. "You have friends. Do your feelings concerning them match those about me?"

"No. Yours are stronger." he sat, waiting for the verdict.

"All right. Do you have family?"

"Yes."

"And you have some kind of feelings for them?"

"Yes, but again, my feelings towards you are stronger."

Jadzia nodded, nearly beaming. "Congratulations. You're in love."

Again, the Kredaile was puzzled. "Love elicits congratulations? I thought it was involuntary."

"True, but for many cultures and species, love is a major step in life."

"That still makes little sense. One might as easily congratulate someone on death."

Jadzia laughed, then nodded admiringly. "A joke. You're getting an idea of us now."

Captain Sisko was just sitting down when a descending hum filled the bridge. He whipped his head to the sensors officer. "What was that?"

The officer read the console, then turned slowly, the blood draining out of her face. "The inertial dampers, sir. Complete failure."

Benjamin looked down. "Damn. Everyone brace for impact!" A failure of the inertial dampers meant that every change in momentum was felt in full by the crew. At impulse speeds, it was damaging, uncomfortable, and sometimes fatal. At warp, it was almost invariably deadly.

A jolt nearly threw the captain out of his chair. He shook his head. _Probably just a molecule or two. There'll be nothing left of us if we hit anything macroscopic._ He decided to take a newfound admiration for navigational deflector technology if he emerged alive from this.

Neither Ervan nor Jadzia had been ready for the jolt. It threw them clear across the lift, the Kredaile landing on his head and the Trill landing on him, slamming into his broken leg. He cried out in pain, but managed to settle into a comfortable position. Jadzia pulled herself off him. "I'm sorry. I didn't see that coming."

He shook his head. "It's fine. There was no way to know. But… now that we _do_ know –" he drew his battle claws off their exposed sheaths – "we should be careful." He looked around, seeing the floor was filled near him. He handed his left claw to Dax. "Can you help me? Just… bury it in the floor." She nodded and slammed his right claw into the floor of the lift, jamming it there. He handed the other one to his left hand, and gave it to her. Another lurch threw him up and to the left. He hit the side of the lift on top of Dax's arm, pushing the razor-sharp claw through his armor deep into his left torso. He fell back down, facing up, with his broken leg folded under him, but he didn't seem to notice.

Jadzia let go of the claw in horror. She unfolded his leg and inspected the claw wound. It had sunk in the entire length of the blades, and protruded slightly in the back. She decided to leave the claw in, working instead to stop the bleeding. Meanwhile, she spoke to him. "Ervan, listen to me. I need you to stay with me, okay?"

Ervan's speech was close to a whisper, and his breathing wispy and labored. "With you? What does… that mean?"

"It means –" she fought to control her panic. "It means I need you to stay conscious. You… talk to me, or just listen. I could tell you a story."

He reached up, barely touching her cheek. "Don't… waste…" His arm fell, and his eyes closed.

Jadzia looked at the Kredaile's body for a moment with disbelief, taking his arm and touching his hand back to her cheek. She dropped her head, still with his arm under it, to his chest, and sat alone, crying for no one to hear.


	3. Chapter 3

Captain Sisko was watching the stars streak by, almost in a trance. He was shocked out of it by the beeping of his combadge. "O'Brien to Sisko."

His response was immediate. "Sisko here. You repaired communications."

"It's _all_ fixed, sir. Good as new."

"Well done. Sisko out." He ended the communication and turned to his sensor officer. "Are sensors up?"

"Yes, sir."

"What's going on in turbolift shaft 1?

The officer leaned towards the panel. "Uh… one life-sign, sir."

"One?"

"Yes, sir. Looked like two for a moment, but the other one was too weak. Probably a resolution problem."

"Or a corpse." Dax Alpha cautioned, then turned to Benjamin. "We'd better get them out of there."

He hit his combadge. "Sisko to transporter room. Lock on to the two life signs in turbolift shaft 1 and beam them directly to sick bay."

"Yes, sir."

He ended the communication and began an new one. "Sisko to Bashir. Patients en route."

"Acknowledged. Bashir out."

Benjamin stepped down from the chair, looking back at Dax Alpha. "You have the bridge. I'll go check on what's happened."

Jadzia and Ervan materialized in sickbay. Doctor Bashir rushed to them and knelt down, looking at the Kredaile. He pushed gently at the Trill's shoulder, trying to pull her away. She didn't budge. He pushed more firmly, and she eventually looked up and stepped away. He lifted Ervan onto the operating table and began the medical scans.

Sisko stepped in, judging the situation. He turned to Dax Gamma. "What happened?"

For a moment he thought she was too stricken to speak, but then she managed to explain. "After the first jolt… he wanted to take off his claws. Their sheathing still left them exposed. We were embedding them in the floor when the second jolt came… and threw him on one."

Julian walked over, leading Dax to sit down on one of the side beds. "She's in shock," he explained to Sisko. "Better hold off the questions for now." The captain nodded and backed off.

The nurse put her arm around Jadzia, trying to comfort her. "It's all right now. He's in good hands." Though she nodded, the Trill still looked very absent. The nurse continued, trying to draw her attention back outward. "He must have been important to you."

Again Dax nodded, but she also spoke. "I've known him for… less than five days, but I spent two of those days with him constantly. He's one of my best friends… and the quickest friend I ever made."

The nurse nodded and smiled. "I'm sure he would be happy to know that."

Bashir returned to the Kredaile and took hold of the claw. He pulled, and it came out slowly with a sickening _squelch_. Setting it aside, he removed Ervan's armor and sealed off his wounds externally. Glancing again at the medical readout, he shook his head. "I don't know enough about Kredaile to treat him. I think he's in a coma, but he might be dead. I don't know. There's nothing I can do."

Sisko nodded gravely. "All right, doctor. Keep an eye on him, do what you can. And… send me Dax back when she's ready." He turned and left.

As Sisko stepped onto the bridge, Dax Alpha vacated the command chair, informing him of the situation. "We're approaching the coordinates I calculated. Another minute or two."

"Thank you." He sat down. "We should be inside their sensor range by now. Drop the cloak."

There was a second's pause, and the tactical officer confirmed. "Cloaking disengaged."

Almost as a response, the Kredaile planet melted into view, with a conical space station in orbit. The _Defiant_ docked at the station and the phasing cloak reengaged around them.

Benjamin gestured to Dax Alpha and Worf to follow, retrieving the ambassador from her quarters. They walked out of the airlock to find a single Kredaile soldier waiting for them. He spoke. "Captain Benjamin Sisko. Lieutenant Commander Worf. Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax. One unknown."

Ambassador Vork bowed. "I am Ambassador Vork of the United Federation of Planets."

The soldier turned his head. "Unknown is Ambassador Vork."

Sisko drew the soldier's attention. "We have a medical emergency – Ervan has been injured."

The soldier paused for a moment, then responded. "No medical technicians can be spared now for a Var'dek. We will provide your doctor with our medical database."

Benjamin sighed and tapped his communicator. "Sisko to Bashir."

"Bashir. What is it?"

"Apparently there are no spare doctors. They're going to upload their medical database to the _Defiant_."

The doctor was audibly displeased. "Fine. I'll see what I can do."

The Kredaile turned to leave, gesturing for the party to follow. "You will discuss in the briefing room."

As he threaded through the halls, Sisko observed the layout of the station. It was very conservative, with narrow, low hallways and no open spaces. It was the model of efficiency, but he didn't want to have to stay there long. It would begin to be very uncomfortable. Eventually, they entered the briefing room. It was large and circular, with concentric circles of benches and a holoprojector in the center. The soldier delivered them and left without a word.

A Kredaile walked into sick bay. Doctor Bashir was momentarily startled, but regained his composure quickly. "Can I help you?"

Like all Kredaile, the soldier kept his helmet on, which unnerved Julian. He hated talking to a shiny black sphere instead of a face. He was carrying what must have been a Kredaile PADD. "I have the medical information. What happened to Ervan?"

"Well," the doctor glanced back at Ervan on the bed. "He's comatose. Fell on his claw."

"He fell on his claw." The Kredaile sounded intrigued. "How unusual."

"Yes, well, the inertial dampers had failed, and he was stuck with Dax in a turbolift. Dax… Gamma, that is."

The soldier stopped moving for a few seconds, then set down his PADD. "Gamma?"

"Yes. There was a transporter accident here on Kredaile, the last time we were here. It duplicated her; the one we got in our transporter is Dax 'Alpha' and the one that stayed is called 'Gamma'."

The Kredaile picked up his PADD and entered some commands, finally pulling out a memory chip. "This is the information you will need."

Bashir took the chip, trying to end the conversation by turning away. "Thank you."

The soldier turned on his heel and left without a word.

About an hour into discussions with the Marshal, the Kredaile leader, Captain Sisko's combadge beeped. "Bashir to Sisko."

He stepped over to a corner of the room where he wouldn't disturb the negotiations. "Sisko here. What is it?"

"Sir, I'm being asked to give up my patient against my medical advice."

"Why? What's going on with Ervan?"

"It's not Ervan, sir. The Kredaile want Dax Gamma. Apparently she's to be held for punishment."

"Punishment?" Sisko's voice began to rise.

"Yes, sir. They want to hold her responsible for Ervan's condition. I oppose it because she's still emotionally vulnerable. I've already had to relieve her of duty. To accuse her now of attacking Ervan is the worst thing we can do to her."

"Tell them to come back tomorrow. I can guarantee she won't leave for at least three days."

Sisko heard Bashir's sigh of relief. "All right. Thank you. Bashir out."

Doctor Bashir opened the Kredaile medical files and began to scan through them. A few minutes in, he stopped. "Wait a moment. That can't be right." He checked again, and ran a short diagnostic on the chip and the computer. Shaking his head, he tapped his combadge. "Bashir to Odo."

"Odo here."

"Constable, I have a dilemma you're more familiar with than me, so I need your help. Could you meet me in sickbay?"

"I'm on my way. Odo out."

The changeling arrived momentarily, stopping just inside the doorway. Bashir beckoned to him to inspect a computer display as he scrolled through it. "I was looking at these medical files from the Kredaile database when I found what seemed to be an oversight. Here –" he pointed between elements in a list – "there should be a stimulant, RZL. It's basic – discovered in the mid-22nd century – and not used much anymore, but it's occasionally helpful, and it should be in a medical database. The Kredaile would seem to be similar enough in physiology to use it. I wondered, why is it not there? So I looked around. There are holes all over, probably more than I caught. Is there some way to recover the missing information?"

"That depends on the way it was erased, and the type of chip it's on. I'll have to take a look." Odo stepped in front of the screen and began entering commands. After only a few seconds, he turned around. "This was very hastily done. I can recover all the information given… less than an hour, I'd say."

Julian inclined his head. "Thank you. I don't know why someone would want to restrict my information, but the more I know, the better I can do for Ervan."

Odo turned to leave, but looked back. "It would seem something's going on. We'd best stay alert." He walked out, turning sharply left as he passed through the door.

Two hours later, Odo's quarters' door hissed open. Odo looked up from his work to see Doctor Bashir walk in and sit down on one of the bunks. "This was Ervan's bunk, wasn't it?"

Odo turned around to look at him. "Yes. I am not interested in conversation. What do you have to say?"

Julian nodded, slightly annoyed. "If something is going on, as you think, we shouldn't let news spread around the ship."

"No."

"In fact, if we intend to figure out what's going on, I think we should keep information strictly between the two of us."

"Understood."

"That being said, you should know that I think I can revive Ervan with the information you extracted. I also think it's clear someone wanted him to stay out, possibly even dead."

Odo nodded. "Ah. So you want to keep that a secret."

"Yes. If I do revive him, I'll have to hide him – here would be good – and we'll need something in there to look like him. Perhaps you could… shapeshift, and imitate him."

"That's feasible, but how long will we keep up the pretense? People will begin to look for me, and I will need to regenerate."

Doctor Bashir nodded slowly, thinking. "I could… call you to sickbay for a checkup. I would keep a bucket there, and – and restrict visiting hours."

"Very well. Let me know when I should clear a path for Ervan."

Julian turned to leave, calling back over his shoulder, "I will."

Captain Sisko returned to the ship, glad for the hiatus in negotiation. He was worried about Dax Gamma – she had apparently been quite a bit closer to Ervan than he'd thought. The Kredaile's accusations weren't helping, either. He passed by the bridge, checking up on operations, and opened the ship's intercom. "All senior staff, report to the mess hall." He turned, left the bridge, and headed toward the mess hall.

A few minutes later, he and the senior staff were gathered around a few tables pushed together. Notably missing, however, were Doctor Bashir and Odo. Sisko looked up at the ceiling, addressing the computer. "Locate Doctor Bashir."

The computer beeped an acknowledgement and responded. "Doctor Bashir is in sickbay."

Sisko nodded. "Maybe a medical emergency."

"Who could it be?" O'Brien asked.

"I don't know, but we should find Odo first. Computer, locate Constable Odo."

"Constable Odo is in sickbay."

Dax Alpha stood up. "It's him!" She spun around and left, nearly running towards sickbay.

Ervan slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was a blue Starfleet uniform. Looking up, he startled to find Doctor Bashir instead of Jadzia standing over him. He looked around slowly. Sickbay.

Bashir disconnected the Kredaile from his sustenance equipment and gently held him down. "Calm down. You're all right."

Ervan took a deep breath, barely feeling what had been gaping tears only a few hours ago. He shook his head. "We're stronger than you think." He sat up, brushing the doctor aside, and stretched. "How long has it been?"

Constable Odo spoke from the corner. Ervan was surprised by his presence. "Seven and a half hours. But a lot has happened."

Julian nodded. "Yes. But before we explain everything, we need to tell you: your consciousness has got to stay a secret. Odo will impersonate you here when he needs to; you'll stay in your quarters, which should be locked. With luck, no one will want to go in there. If someone does come in, we'll have to be careful. Only if you're sure they can be trusted should we reveal the plan to them. Otherwise… I don't know. Stun them and get them here. We'll figure it out."

"Very well." Ervan stood up. "But why?"

Odo steepled his fingers. "Well… we believe something suspicious is going on. Someone withheld medical information on your condition from the good doctor, but did a hasty job of it. I got it back."

"So we've arrived at Kredaile. I presume we're at the station?"

"Yes. Do you have any idea of anyone on the –" A red light flashed on the changeling's PADD.

Bashir glanced at it, giving directions by tilting his head. "People are coming. Ervan, under the bed. Odo, get into position."

The two rushed to their places and held them. Uncomfortably soon after, the doors snapped open. Dax Alpha came running in, closely followed by the rest of the senior staff. Bashir was leaning over Odo's replica of Ervan. Sisko spoke as he entered. "What's going on?"

"I'm sorry I couldn't get to your meeting, Captain," Bashir said, continuing his work. "I nearly lost him for a few moments. I've got to make sure he's stable."

"All right. What about Odo?"

"Odo? Oh, right, Odo." Julian gestured to a bucket filled with Odo's substance. "He had some shifting pains. I don't know much about it, but I've prescribed rest. _Monitored_ rest, even though he hates that. Now, excuse me, please. I've got to get back to it."

Sisko left, followed by the others. Dax Gamma, though, stayed. She looked at Ervan, then up at Bashir. "How is he doing?"

The doctor shook his head. "I barely got him back. I really don't know."

"Do you think you can keep him alive?"

"That depends on when the Kredaile doctors can take over, though from their database, I don't think they could do much, either. So, in the long term…" Julian hesitated. He had had to deliver news of death before. He had experience with it, and though he wasn't comfortable doing it, he could manage. To lie, though, and probably break his friend's heart, was another matter altogether. He wondered whether he could be justified doing this just on a suspicion. He decided it had to be done, though. He took a deep breath to brace himself.

"Yes. Yes, he can." Ervan stood up from under one of the other tables. He held up a hand to cut protest short. "It's all right. I trust her… and I scanned her. She's not a changeling."

Dax Gamma tensed, looking suspiciously at the two Ervans. The one standing laughed and waved dismissively at the other. "That's Odo."

A moment later, the Ervan on the operating bed melted sideways and shifted into the constable. Jadzia relaxed, then nearly threw herself at the Kredaile, hugging him forcefully. She stood back. "Oh, Ervan… are you all right?"

He tilted his head slightly. "Obviously. But are you?"

"I'm definitely better." She sighed. "I'm… I'm sorry."

He looked at her. "The accident? That's not your fault."

She didn't respond, and instead returned for another hug. It lasted for a good thirty seconds, until Doctor Bashir cleared his throat. "I'm sorry to separate the two of you, but maybe… you'd like to know what's going on?"

Ervan chuckled and sat down on one of the beds. "Go ahead." Jadzia followed suit, sitting next to him.

Odo turned to Dax. "I'm sorry for the deception. It was necessary. If we want to find out who did this, we need to make them think their plan is working. That includes Ervan staying unconscious."

Julian nodded. "But I couldn't actually leave him unconscious. Who knows what might happen, or what they'd do to him? Anyway," he extended his hand, and Jadzia shook it. "It's good to have you with us."

"So." Ervan said. "You intend to hide me in my quarters."

"Yes." Bashir gestured back at the operating table and the bucket of replicated Odo-fluid. "Both you and Odo are supposedly here, so no one will go there. It'll probably be locked. I'm sorry for the confined space, but that's the best we can do."

"I'll be fine," Ervan dismissed. "But what about Jadzia?"

"You're going to have to pretend he's still in a coma, Dax. Act depressed, et cetera. Make sure to visit here at least once a day; I've restricted visiting hours to let Odo rest, but while he is, I've got to be here to cover. I probably won't be able to get out to communicate with Ervan, so you'll have to be our link."

Odo shook his head. "What excuse would she have to go into an empty, locked room?"

The Trill turned to Ervan. "Do you keep logs? Personal logs, especially?"

"I have an activity record. It's required of all Kredaile, and it contains reflections similar to a log. Personal matters are not recorded in there, though."

"Oh. That might do."

"I also, however, have a philosophical log."

The doctor was puzzled. "A _philosophical_ log?"

"Yes. It does not contain entries by day, but is instead a collection of personal reflection and thought. It doesn't usually cite events, but instead draws general conclusions. Nothing evidence-worthy."

She smiled. "Perfect. We're not looking for evidence, we're looking for an excuse. If I'm depressed and go in there to cry over your philosophical logs, it'll be right in line. No questions raised."

Ervan inclined his head in recognition. "Well done. You'll be able to spend hours in there if you'd like. I'd appreciate the company."

Jadzia put her hand on his shoulder. "I'd be happy to. The hardest part will be staying melancholy outside your room."

Julian grinned. "I'm sure you'll manage. With a personality like yours, you can't help but be melancholy."

Dax laughed. She recognized her laughter was too much for the joke's humor, but she was laughing with relief as well. She squeezed Ervan's shoulder. "It's good to have you back."

Early the next morning, a Kredaile engineering team boarded the _Defiant_. They were analyzing Federation technology to pick out differences to their own. Sisko had sent a similar team of his onto the station. In sickbay, Odo's proximity alert sounded and he quickly shifted into a comatose Ervan. A few moments later, the doors opened to the engineering team. The lead engineer stepped forward. "We wish to examine your medical equipment. Do we have your approval?"

Julian quickly took his PADD with the Kredaile medical database and Odo's surveillance one, and pushed the bucket over next to Ervan's bed. "Go ahead, but please don't disturb my patients."

The Kredaile began to inspect the equipment, and one walked over to Ervan/Odo. The doctor watched him carefully, but he only inspected the changeling's sustenance equipment. Bashir turned back to his PADD. The Kredaile left after a few minutes of examination, and Odo melted back to his original form. "You didn't notice, but that Kredaile gave me a hypo. Right in the neck."

"What? What did he give you?"

"I'm not sure." A small, transparent sphere formed as part of Odo's hand. "This is it. It's a gas."

Bashir took a blood sampler and poked through the sphere. He drew the gas out and let the computer scan it. It was done almost momentarily. Bashir's eyes widened. "Carbon monoxide."

"What does that do?"

"It's the perfect way to make it look like he stopped breathing. It'll take up all the oxygen breathed in and become carbon dioxide, a natural waste product. This was enough to kill him."

"Well, then," Odo leant over the bed. "We have to kill him."

Bashir noted the death in his log and tapped his combadge, trying his best to sound shaken. "Bashir… to Sisko."

"Sisko here. What is it?"

"Sir – Ervan's dead."

"Oh." There was a distinct pause. "Does Dax know yet?"

"No, sir. Neither one."

Benjamin sighed. "Should I tell her, or will you?"

"It's not going to be easy for any of us. Maybe we should let Alpha tell her."

"All right. Sisko out."

"Bashir to Dax Alpha."

"What's going on, Julian? You sound stressed."

"Jadzia… Ervan's dead."

Again there was a pause, but this one lasted a moment longer. "I see. Don't worry, Julian. I'm sure you did your best."

"Nobody's told Gamma yet. I was hoping you would be able to break it to her nicely."

"Oh… Yes, I can do that."

"Let me know how she reacts. If it's bad enough, you might need to bring her in."

"All right. I'll take care of it. Dax out."

"Bashir to Dax _Gamma_." Julian nearly rolled his eyes at the repetition of his calls.

"Yes, Julian?"

"We had to kill off Ervan. Someone tried to poison him. Dax Alpha is on her way to give you the news. Try to be devastated."

"All right. Dax out."

Dax Alpha addressed the computer. "Locate Dax Gamma."

"Dax Gamma is in Constable Odo and Ervan's quarters."

She puffed out her cheeks. "Oh, great. She's in his _quarters_." She walked off, trying to rehearse what she would say.

She came up to Ervan's quarters only to see Dax Gamma at the other end of the hallway, moving slowly as usual. She quickly caught up with her. "Gamma. I have some news for you." She turned to face Dax Alpha, but her head was still slightly bowed, and she didn't look her in the eye directly. Alpha continued, taking Gamma by both shoulders. "Jadzia… Ervan's dead."

She looked up at Alpha, her eyes wide, for a moment. Then she sank to the floor slowly and folded into a fetal position. Dax Alpha tried to get her attention or pull her up, but without success. She tapped her combadge. "Dax Alpha to Bashir."

"Bashir. Did you tell her?"

"Yes. She's in the middle of the hallway, curled up, and I can't get her to talk to me."

"That's – pretty bad. Bring her in."

"I will. Dax out."

The two Daxes materialized in sickbay, and Julian bent down to look at Dax Gamma. Gently, he coaxed her up and onto one of the side beds. She opened her eyes, and, seeing Ervan, she stared. Dax Alpha noticed this and covered the body. Bashir turned to her. "I'll take care of her. You'd better get back on duty."

She nodded. "All right. When she responds, tell her I've asked Sisko for a memorial service." She turned and left.

Dax Gamma waited a moment, then sat up, breathing deeply. "That wasn't good for my mood."

Julian lifted the sheet off Odo to let him shift back. "I'm sorry, but it died for a noble cause."

She laughed. "So what exactly happened?"

Odo returned to his normal form. "The Kredaile engineering team came in to inspect our medical equipment. One of them injected me with a gas."

Doctor Bashir held up a small container. "It was this – carbon monoxide. It consumed all the oxygen in Ervan's lungs and he suffocated. Or so they say."

"Does he know about this yet?" Dax asked.

"No, so you'll have to go tell him –" the Trill stood up, but he pushed her back down. "_After_ you recover from your depression. At least 15 minutes."

Ervan looked up when the door to his quarters opened. Dax Gamma stepped inside, and he slipped down off his bunk. "Jadzia! Back so soon?"

"Yes, I've got news."

"And I have a question, but it can wait. What's the news?"

"You're dead. Someone injected Odo with carbon monoxide."

"Oh… What are we doing about it?"

"Well, we're going to throw a dummy in a bag out the airlock, and we're going to hold a memorial service."

"Bring me a recording of that." Ervan laughed. "It'll be entertaining. Is there anything I have to do about it?"

"No, just relax. We'll take care of your death for you." Dax smiled, then sat down on Ervan's bunk. "What did you want to ask?"

"Do you remember, in the turbolift, you were talking about love?"

"Yes, how could I forget?"

"Well, when you told me, I asked you a question, to confirm. I said…" he looked sideways to try to remember. "I said, 'So I'm in love with you.' Now, your response was, 'At least, I'd like to think so.' At the time, I dismissed it. I had more questions. But now, I want to know – what did that mean?"

Jadzia hesitated before answering. After a deep breath, she continued. "It meant that I had enough emotional investment in you being in love that there was doubt that I wasn't just seeing what I was looking for."

"Emotional investment?"

"Yes – a highly emotional attachment to something, a belief that something is, or should be, true, usually because it would make you happy."

"Why? Because you're my friend?"

"No." She put her arm around Ervan. "Because _I'm_ in love with _you_." She reached up with her arm from around him and wrapped it over his shoulder, then pulled him toward her.

After a few centimeters of movement, Ervan stopped. "What are you doing?"

She let go of him, her cheeks flushing, and she looked down in embarrassment. "Oh. Oh, I'm sorry. I… was trying to kiss you. Is that bad?"

"Kiss me? What does that mean?"

Jadzia smiled, amused. "It's a… way of expressing love. Let me show you." She pulled him in again. He didn't resist.

The next day, Sisko accompanied Dax Gamma to her tribunal. He had told her she didn't have to worry, but he was not so sure. His case was flimsy; there were no witnesses except for Ervan, who had died mysteriously and conveniently just before the hearing. If he hadn't known better, he would've said someone had been trying to set them up.

They sat down, just the two of them, in a small, brightly lit room. It had a desk at the front, with a clear space to stand or talk, and three chairs to be moved. A witness stand was evident on one side of the room, with a scanner for lie detection. At the back of the room were two rows of benches for the defending party.

Benjamin and Dax sat down on these benches. Although she had weathered the worst of the shock following Ervan's death, she was still noticeably depressed. He put his hand on her shoulder. "Dax…" She looked up, her eyes faintly pink from crying. He shook her slightly, the way he used to do to Curzon. "You're going to be fine. I won't let anything happen to you… Now straighten up. Let's show them they can't scare us." She blinked and sat straight, turning to look around the room.

The door opened, and the judge walked in. She did not waste a moment. "Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax Gamma, you are accused of attempting to murder Ervan, Class 1 pilot, number 29390. Do you concede the accusation?"

Sisko stood. "I am her commanding officer. I will respond in her name. I do not concede."

"What evidence do you have to support this?"

"I wish to challenge the evidence of the accuser." Sisko sat down.

"Very well." She pressed a button on her desk. A screen lit up, and replayed the scene of Bashir's report to the Kredaile technician.

Sisko frowned, standing up again. "This proves nothing."

"The rest is reasoning. There are only two possible explanations: accident or plot. An accident is always possible, but we have several factors that point to a plot. First, the _very convenient_ failure of the internal sensors, communications systems, _and_ transporters during the event. Second, the similarly convenient lack of witnesses. Third, the Federation has made agreements with the Dominion in the past. Perhaps you _didn't_ kill that changeling, and had to keep Ervan quiet. Finally, Ervan's quite sudden asphyxiation under your doctor's care. He claimed he was _stable_."

Benjamin could feel the conversation heating up. "But none of this does more than suggest a possibility. It proves nothing."

"Suspicion is valid. Any reason for a judge's sentence is valid under Kredaile law."

Sisko forced himself to sit down. "I request a recess to investigate further proof."

"Granted. For how long?"

"Two days."

The judge nodded and left. "So be it."

The door to Ervan's quarters hissed open, and Dax Gamma walked in. "Ervan."

Ervan's head appeared from the top bunk. "Jadzia! How did the, uh… tribunal go?"

She shook her head, sitting down. "Not good. Their case is weak, but ours is weaker. We've managed to get two days to assemble new evidence."

He slid down and sat next to her, taking her hand and squeezing it. "Don't worry, you'll get through it. From what I hear, the captain has pulled people through worse cases."

"Yes, but never in such an arbitrary system. There seem to be no rules."

"The judges do have almost absolute authority, but there are some things they can't deny you. You have rights."

"Oh? What are they?"

"Let's see now, they have to… explain their reasoning… see all evidence… and you can demand a different judge. Besides that, it's up to them."

"I'm afraid she'll convict me. I don't know what kind of proof we can find. Do you know what the punishment would be?"

Ervan sighed contemplatively. "I don't know for certain. The Kredaile have never tried a foreigner before. For attempted murder… the technical sentence is exile, but it's always escalated to death to keep our secrets from getting out. Seeing as you're going back to the Alpha Quadrant, maybe she'll let you go with exile, but she's just as likely to conclude the punishment isn't severe enough and kill you anyway. I don't know."

Jadzia looked up at him, smiling. "That isn't very reassuring, you know."

Ervan put his other hand on hers, pressing down for emphasis. "Well, if necessary, we'll drop the pretense and I'll testify myself. That should quickly clear things up."

Before she could reply, the doors opened again. Both looked up to see Odo standing in the doorway looking more than slightly uncomfortable. Ervan gave Dax's hand one last squeeze and let go, standing up. "Constable."

The changeling seemed to relax. "We want to infiltrate the station and investigate your murderers. Do you think you can do that?"

Ervan shook his head. "No, I would immediately be detected. But… perhaps we could get your suspects to come to you."

Odo tilted his head. "How?"

"Every Kredaile has the equivalent of a combadge built into their armor. With a bit of manipulation, we should be able to get a channel to our medical saboteur." He turned to the computer console, inputting commands. "We'll need the sensor logs."

Dax climbed up to the top bunk. "I'll get out of your way… there."

Ervan looked up at her. "In our way? No, you'll be invaluable… as always."

Odo opened the sensor logs and drew up the file they needed. Ervan quickly isolated the frequency of the saboteur's comlink, then beckoned to Dax. As she got down from the bunk, he smiled. "I told you you'd be useful, Jadzia. Now, we need a channel on that frequency."

Within minutes, the channel was ready. Ervan sat down. "All right, we need to lure him in. How should we?"

Dax paused to think, then looked up as she had an idea. "The Kredaile aren't used to our culture. What if we try old-fashioned blackmail?"

"Black… mail?" Ervan looked baffled. "An expression?"

Odo nodded. "A threat, usually of revealing compromising information, to make someone cooperate."

"How? We don't have anything to hold against him."

"True," the Trill responded, "but he doesn't know that. We can bluff him."

"Let's get on with it," Odo said, taking the communicator. "I'll talk." He opened the channel.

A Kredaile's voice spoke. "Yes?"

Odo changed the shape of his vocal chords to distort his voice. "We know what you've done. We need to talk."

"What? I… I don't know what you mean." The Kredaile sounded shaken.

"You do. We want to talk. Tomorrow. Same place and time."

"What… why should I go anywhere _you_ want me to?"

"We know _everything_. You wouldn't want the wrong people to hear it, would you?"

The saboteur snapped. "All right. Tomorrow." Odo cut the channel without a response.

Ervan nodded in admiration. "Even the Dominion doesn't interrogate like that. I'm impressed."

Jadzia smirked. "That's because he's got something to hide. That's the source of our power over him."

"So now what?"

Odo turned to leave. "We wait."

That evening, Ervan's memorial service was held in the _Defiant_'s mess hall. Julian was the last to arrive, and he looked around to take stock of the participants. Captain Sisko was there, as were Worf, Constable Odo, and both Daxes. Besides that, the room was empty.

Dax Gamma looked around as well, disappointed. "Is this… everyone?"

Dax Alpha tried to console her. "Yes. He was only here for half a week – and considering that, it's not bad."

Bashir walked up to Dax Gamma, whom he thought he should pretend to console for good measure. "Hello, Dax." She looked up in answer, but didn't speak. He pressed the conversation. "So what do you do with your time, since you're off duty?"

She didn't respond, but Dax Alpha passed and gave him his answer. "She sits in Ervan's quarters and reads his logs. When Odo's not around, that is."

He nodded. "I see." He searched for something else to say, and after a good minute of thought, could only come up with "How's Ervan?" For a moment he froze. Had he broken the secret? He didn't move.

Dax Gamma, however, saw a way out, and after a moment of shock, began to laugh. It spread around the room, but quickly died down. The atmosphere of the room was still heavy.

Sisko sighed and called attention. "The memorial service for the Kredaile soldier Ervan will begin." He gestured to Dax Gamma. "You knew him best of everyone here. I think you know best how to proceed."

She bowed her head and stood. "I'm not going to explain a great deal right now, because I'll give a speech later. But I think that, as much as a soldier, Ervan was a philosopher, or at least he was in our quadrant. I believe the best way to remember him would be with a reflection in his honor – a symposium on a topic important to him… honesty. I'll explain my choice in my speech, but I don't want to give it quite yet." She sat down. "The floor is open."

There was a moment's silence as people contemplated their speeches, but then Worf stood. "I will make the first speech." He paused for a breath and began. "Klingons do not have a direct notion of honesty. To us it is a result of other values, such as loyalty and honor. But I have learned that these guides are sometimes insufficient. When my father was accused of betraying Khitomer, it was true to Klingon principles to abandon the truth for the greater strength of the Empire. But this was not right. When Gowron became Chancellor, he restored my family to its rightful position, but my point is not political. Honesty is truth despite any circumstance. When one tries to impose circumstance on it – for example, honesty from loyalty – it is no longer honesty at all. That is why I am surprised to find it in a military man. It does not survive subordination." He sat down, signaling an end to his speech. It was hailed by light applause.

"Well," Dax Alpha commented, "That depends on your definition of honesty. I think it's still honesty only to tell the truth to people whom you're loyal to."

Worf turned towards her and leaned closer, almost aggressively. "Yes, but – that doesn't work throughout a life. How does anyone come to trust you in the first place?"

She bowed her head. "You have a point."

Odo spoke. "Excuse me. I would like… to make the second speech. I've never fancied myself a public speaker, so I'll be brief." He stood. "Since we seem to be relating this to personal experience, I know a great deal about truth and falsehood from my investigations. It seems that one of the few philosophical disagreements I encounter regularly in humanoids is, as I understand, the continuation of a millennium of debate – lies of omission. I have practical experience with these controversial matters."

"The degree to which lies of omission affect honesty is, I believe, a matter of trust. If I trust someone, is it a breach of that trust to tell me a lie of omission? Now, of course, I have an unusual perspective. Most people take an investigation as a search for truth. This is not entirely false, but in my case, it is really a search for order – or so I'm told. From the perspective of truth, lies of omission are very difficult. They are composed only of the truth, but give a false impression. This goes against many theories of truth, which makes the topic very awkward for some people. However, when the goal is order, the means are not important – only the end. In this case, despite its truthful composition, a lie of omission is misleading, and not conducive to order. In fact, in that light, there is no debate at all. Lies of omission are lies just the same, and they _are_ a breach of honesty." He sat down, greeted by a lighter applause than Worf's.

Dax Alpha stood. "I'll take the next speech. I'm sorry to lead a parade through the rain, but _I_ happen to think there's a little humor in life." She glared mockingly at Odo and Worf. "My topic," she said, staring humorously at Dax Gamma, "is self-honesty. Gamma, you know I've never lied to you… as far as _I_ know." A light chuckle went around the room, lightening the atmosphere slightly.

Clearing her throat, she began. "I didn't know Ervan well, but I flatter myself that I am a little philosophical. As a Trill, I get to have the… unique opportunity… of self-analysis. I believe that one of the most important qualities in a good life – and one which I have brought to all of mine, once I realized it, is self-honesty. Of course, on a purely logical level, if you're not honest with yourself, you don't know what's going on, and emotionally, it helps us know who we are. But in a deeper sense, it does what self-deception would – defends us from our conscience – but more permanently, through understanding. It is the basis for our individuality, and for our ability to coexist in society. One of the reasons humanoids find honesty so essential is that we are built on it." She let herself slide back into her chair to vigorous applause.

Bashir stood. "Thank you, Dax, that was an enlightening speech. I don't think mine will be so deep." He paused to check for consent and attention, then began. "As a doctor, I am often faced with bringing bad news to people or families. I'm a great believer in honesty. It's useful and practical… but it's a little more than all that, and as a result, a little less. I think the best way to make my point is a story." He paused to indicate the beginning of his account.

"About three years ago, I got a new assistant in the infirmary on Deep Space 9. He was a charming young Bajoran – just turned 19 – and he was there for some internship work before furthering his studies in medicine. His parents had been killed in the occupation, and he wanted to try to save people like them. He and I became fast friends, and I noticed he took, uh… _interest_ in one of the nurses. The second week of his assignment, he came to me with a slight fever – nothing worrying. I treated him, of course, but when I ran my tricorder over him, I saw something worrying. So I discreetly took a closer reading. Well, it turned out that he had a rare and fatal condition that manifests itself around the end of puberty. He didn't know, so I had to ask myself whether to tell this wonderful boy that he was going to die in the next year. I thought about it, and lost sleep on it, for three days straight. Eventually, I couldn't come up with any good reason either way, so I followed the saying and decided honesty is the best policy."

"I broke the news to him the next day, and for the following week I watched the boy shrivel up like plant in the desert. He didn't greet me in the morning, he didn't go to social events, he even stopped talking to the nurse he so clearly admired. I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn't talk to anyone. He finished his internship in solemn depression, and left for Bajor. When he got on that transport, I swear he looked more like a suicidal depressive than a man trying to enjoy the last of his life. And I couldn't shake the feeling that it was my fault. That my blind honesty ruined his _life_. So… I'm not saying that when the truth hurts, we should lie – not even that we should only lie in a doctor's case – but that honesty, like everything else, has its bad side, and we should be careful with it. The truth is a powerful tool, and it's possible to do great harm with it. Be wise as well as honest." Julian sighed and sat down, greeted with emphatic applause.

Dax Alpha leaned toward him once the applause had subsided. "I never heard about this. I'm… sorry, Julian. That must've felt terrible."

The doctor sighed again, bowing his head. "I was too ashamed to tell you. In reflection, it all looked so stupid. Ah, well." He straightened. "That's years ago now."

"Time doesn't diminish stories, Doctor," Sisko countered, standing up. "My story is from six years ago, a few weeks after the Battle of Wolf 359. Just after we escaped the _Saratoga_ in an escape pod, Jake began looking for Jennifer. I didn't know how to tell him she was dead, so I put it off. I told him she was lost and we'd look for her once we came out of the pod."

He paused to regain his slightly faltering composure and continued. "Of course, once we came out, she was nowhere to be found. After an hour or so, I told him she was still lost. That gave me a few days to think over what I would say. It took longer than I thought to bring myself to tell him, so he began to theorize where she'd gone. At first his ideas were pretty tame, being picked up by another ship, or her escape pod landing somewhere else. But pretty soon, poor Jake had to come up with really far-fetched ideas to explain how long she'd been gone. Maybe she'd been captured by the Borg and was being held for questioning before they gave her back to us. Maybe she'd fallen past some kind of temporal anomaly on her way home and been thrown into the near future, and when she arrived she'd come straight back."

He chuckled. "When it devolved to conspiracy theories and time travel, I knew I had better act. I told him that I had been wrong, that she wasn't lost. He'd asked a few times if she was dead, and I had said no before, but I admitted – I lied and she really was dead. The first thing he said was, 'Liar!' and he wouldn't talk to me for days. Eventually, though, we reconciled out of necessity. Jake still tells me he wishes I'd told him right away what had happened. I really don't know about that, but I understood how serious it was to him that I had lied. And I promised him that I'd never lie to him again. So there's my moral. Dishonesty is serious. Don't treat it lightly." Another round of light applause went around as he sat back down.

Dax Gamma stood, and everyone looked at her. She was bound to give a speech to be remembered, after all the trouble she'd gone through about Ervan. She didn't start with that, though. "My friends," she said, her hands resting on the table. "I avoided a speech earlier when I told you I wanted to talk about honesty. Now I owe you an explanation. Let this be… _my_ story."

She gathered her strength and began her speech. "In my first minute knowing Ervan, he saved my life. By the end of my first day, he'd done it again, twice. When we reached Deep Space Nine, two days later, he'd done it _five _times – but while he was there, and on our way back here, I got the impression he still felt indebted to me. It was only in reading his philosophical logs I understood why. The Kredaile here live an insular life. Their society is built around and driven by a single purpose – war. I realized that when I brought him off Kredaile and into the Alpha Quadrant, I'd handed him his life on a silver platter – in fact, more lives than he would know what to do with. On his home planet, he was a pilot. A soldier. But out in the Alpha Quadrant, he had, for what was probably the first time in his life, true choice. He was free to go anywhere, do anything he wanted to. And that meant the world to him."

She paused before continuing, wiping away a budding tear. "I look at this planet and its beliefs, and I ask, 'Is it true? Is there really no room for anyone but soldiers here?' I can't seriously believe that, but it's obvious every soldier down there does. Upon reflection, I began to wonder whether our cultures are like that. I have to think so. Each culture, to be worth preserving, has to take itself seriously. Once it does, it stops questioning its traditions, and it loses its objectivity. Even the great Vulcan traditions of logic make assumptions."

"In fact, I think our cultures have indoctrinated us so thoroughly that we can never really be objective about them – or honest about them. Now, usually, we don't explain our culture to others, so cultural honesty is a part of self-honesty. Ervan was the most honest – both inwards and outwards – person I knew. What's more, though he wasn't trying to be, he was a great model and teacher of honesty. It was through _him_ that I came to think about culture this way. It was _his_ questioning that endeared him to me, and the honesty _he_ inspired in me that lets me say this now. I loved him." She sat down a little shakily, and there was silence. Everyone was still looking straight at her. Benjamin began to clap, and he was quickly joined by the others. Within seconds, she was hailed with resounding applause.

Sisko stood again, calling for attention. "I'm not going to try to say anything to follow Dax's eloquence, but this marks the end of our service. Thank you all for attending." The doctor, Odo, and Worf filed out, leaving Benjamin and the two Daxes alone. He leaned towards Dax Gamma. "I never knew your feelings were that strong for him."

She nodded. "In the turbolift, just before the accident, I figured out he loved me. While he was unconscious I found I – reciprocated… I never got the chance to tell him."

Dax Alpha got up from her seat and moved next to her replica. "You'll be all right. We've dealt with this before."

Dax Gamma took a deep breath. "Yes. Thanks. Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to have some time to think."

Sisko gestured that she was free to go. "Of course. Good night."

Doctor Bashir walked into sickbay. Dax Gamma and Odo were already there, waiting for him. He sat down. "So, what are we going to do with this… character?"

Odo stood. "We've already scared him. I think we're well on our way to getting what we want if we terrify him enough."

"Right. So how do we do that?"

The constable smiled. "Leave it to me. The Kredaile are uneasy with me anyway, and I've got a few… ideas."

"Why don't we go watch from Ervan's quarters?" Dax beckoned Bashir. "This sounds like a show." The two left.

The Kredaile saboteur, Girak, stepped up to the _Defiant_'s sickbay door. It opened with a faint hiss on a pitch-black room. He paused, then activated the night-vision display on his helmet. He looked around inside, but didn't see anyone. As he walked in to investigate, the door closed behind him and beeped. He turned and saw it was locked. After a moment's hesitation, he continued to search for signs of life. He saw nothing, and called out. "Hello?"

There was no response. He tried again. "Is there anyone here?"

After a long pause, a voice seemed to come out of nowhere. "Sit down."

Unnerved, Girak searched in vain for the voice's source. "Where are you?"

"Sit down." The voice was more forceful now.

"All… all right. What do you want?" He obeyed, sitting on one of the beds.

"Your accomplices." The voice now came from just behind him. Girak spun around, but there was nobody there.

"It's impolite to turn your back on your host." Again the voice came from behind. He turned back to see a hooded figure sitting calmly in a chair that hadn't been there before.

"I'm… sorry, I didn't… realize… you were there."

Odo nearly laughed. The Kredaile was trembling. He believed he could intimidate almost anything out of him now. "We want information. _Why_ did you do it, _how_ did you infiltrate, and _who_ are your accomplices?"

"Why should I… tell you?"

Odo shifted the cloak and hood back into his usual Bajoran uniform. "Come now, we're friends, aren't we? We trust each other."

The Kredaile visibly relaxed. "You're right, we are. I thought the Dominion would approach us after this. Such a good job deserves a reward."

Odo was taken aback, but kept his calm. He thought fast and responded. "No… the job was mediocre at best. But the Federation isn't on to it. You're safe, for now. Now, our answers, please."

"Well… we judged a threat to the Dominion – this Kredaile-Federation alliance – and sabotaged it. As I'm sure you know, both sides are furious over it. But I assume you'd know our agents and contacts. You put us here."

"No. It's standard spy policy – no networks."

"All right, then. Since you know I can't take you… here." Girak handed the changeling a small chip. "Agents and contacts."

"And all of these are still undercover?"

"Of course. No one suspects anything. They still don't even know the origin of the Kredaile."

"That's… admirable. I'll talk with these people. Go." Odo pressed a button and the door to the sickbay unlocked. The Kredaile turned around and reached over his head, putting his fist on the nape of his neck. He then walked out and left the ship.

Ervan sighed as he watched the saboteur on the screen leave. "There's a whole network," he commented, shocked.

Dax Gamma shook her head. "Right under your noses," she added.

Ervan leaped back, shielding his head with his arms, but there was nothing to defend against. After a moment, he straightened, embarrassed. "Oh. An expression."

Both Bashir and Dax barely restrained their laughter. Jadzia managed to put on a straight face long enough to confirm Ervan's statement. "Yes. Sorry, I… know it's… rather odd."

Ervan dismissed it and waited for the others to settle down. When they did, he sat down on the lower bunk. "So what are we going to do?"

"Well," Bashir said, "We know at least it's not the captain. We can't go parading you around the ship – word travels fast – but we can let the senior officers know you're alive."

"Maybe the captain should take over once he's been briefed."

"Maybe he will," Dax answered, "but there's no point wondering about it. Let's ask him."

"All right." Bashir walked out into the hallway, saw it was clear, and gestured for the others to follow. As they walked to sickbay, the doctor tapped his combadge. "Bashir to Sisko."

"Sisko here. What is it?"

"You'd better get down to sickbay, sir. I've got something you'll want to know. Bring the senior staff."

"On my way. Sisko out."

When the three entered sickbay, they found it still dark. Dax stopped just inside. "Computer," she called,"Lights." The lights came back on. Odo was standing next to the computer interface, reading the list of names.

Julian sat down, speaking to Odo. "Why didn't you turn on the lights?"

"He probably was in a scary mood." Dax explained. "You liked intimidating someone, didn't you?"

"It can be… exhilarating." Odo responded. "Computer, access sensor logs and prepare to replay last ten minutes of record of sickbay."

The captain was the first to walk in the door. He froze the moment he saw Ervan. After a second's hesitation he turned to Julian. "Doctor, what's going on?"

"Ervan isn't dead. I was able to revive him by restoring information the Kredaile hid when they gave me their database. I lied about his death."

"The Kredaile hid something?"

"More than that," Odo responded. "They tried to kill Ervan – that's why we said he died."

"They failed, obviously."

"Yes." Ervan said. "By the time their attempt took place, I was revived and hidden, with Odo taking my place. They gave him poison, but as a changeling, he was unaffected."

Odo gestured to the computer console. "I managed to find the assassin and interrogate him. Here." He started the sensor log's recording.

As Sisko watched the recording, the other senior staff filtered in. Each was briefed in turn, and sat down, waiting for the captain to finish watching the interrogation. Once he did, he turned back toward the group. "It looks like we have a Dominion spy network on our hands."

O'Brien grinned cheerfully. "Wonderful. What do we do about it?"

"We hand them over to the Kredaile authorities," Dax Alpha volunteered. She hesitated when everyone turned to look at her, then added, "I presume."

Odo turned back from his list of names. "That won't be so easy. Gamma," he turned to face Dax Gamma. "What judge did you have?"

Sisko scratched his beard, trying to remember. "Judge… 11 of Group 2."

"Thought so." The changeling sighed, handing Dax Gamma the agent list on his PADD. "She's one of them."

"So what do we do?" Worf asked.

Ervan spoke up. "We go to Group 1. They're responsible for judging members of Group 2."

"They've got a plant there, too." Dax Gamma inspected the list. "Judge… 4."

"Ah. " he sighed, "that's… never happened. I don't know what we do with that."

"At least we know who we can trust." Sisko turned to look at Odo. "Odo, get me some evidence against these people. Gamma, Ervan, see what you can do about your trial. I need to find a Kredaile authority I can trust." He stood, obviously preparing to leave.

Ervan looked up at the captain. "Sir, I recommend you speak to the Marshal."

"The Marshal?"

"The leader of the planet. I shall give you a channel." The Kredaile used the ship's comlines to access a computer interface. He handed it over to Sisko and turned to Dax Gamma. "Let's go. I'll see what I can think of." The two left.

Odo sat, thinking. There was no way he could find individual evidence against each of these people. There were too many, and most were probably too marginally involved to be convicted. He needed a way to prove their guilt all at once.

He stood, walking to his quarters as he contemplated an idea. Once he reached them, he reopened his channel with the Kredaile assassin.

"Yes?" Girak said.

"You remember me."

"Oh, yes. What is it?"

"We're going to need a full meeting. Get it organized, wherever necessary. Your reward is… imminent."

"Very well. I'll arrange for the changeling field to fail and… I'll meet you aboard the station, in the briefing room. Everything should be ready by… this time tomorrow."

"So be it." Odo cut the channel curtly. He sighed. Now a second call presented itself – but he didn't yet know whom to call. He addressed the computer. "Locate Ervan."

"Ervan is in Lieutenant Commanders Dax Alpha and Dax Gamma's quarters."

_Oh_, he thought as he walked there. _I'd better ring the bell_.

Once Ervan and Dax Gamma had reached her quarters, they began to discuss her tribunal. The Kredaile sat down. "Obviously, you'll want to change judges – their agent will not hesitate to convict you, and no one will be able to challenge her – but we don't want to arouse their suspicion. Somehow we need an excuse."

"Well," Dax asked, standing across from him. "What reasons do people usually have to ask for a different judge?"

"Crimes and judgement are rare enough as it is," Ervan explained. "It's almost unheard of to request a change of judge. But it's guaranteed in their Outline of Powers. The few examples I _have_ heard have been mostly due to personal reasons or emotions – things involving the judge or their family, usually. I don't think that'll work here."

The Trill turned to the computer. "Okay, then. I'll look up the judge's history to see if there's anything to go on there."

"Very well. I shall investigate the legal technicalities. Perhaps there's a way to conceal our participation with requirements."

A few minutes later, the door chime sounded, and the two turned from their work. Dax quickly hid Ervan in the top bunk and unlocked the door. "Come in."

Odo stepped in and looked around. After a second's pause, he lowered his head slightly. "Oh, I'm sorry. The computer told me Ervan was here."

Ervan jumped out of hiding on the top bunk, having recognized Odo's voice. "So I am."

Dax smirked at Odo apologetically. "I had to hide him from the rest of the crew. Ensign Hallman has taken to visiting at odd hours… I haven't figured out whether he has scientific emergencies at 2200 or if he's trying to catch me changing."

Odo rolled his eyes. "I'll make sure the ensign is reminded of his duties. But I need to speak to Ervan."

The Kredaile stepped forward as Dax went back to her work. "Yes, Constable?"

"I laid a trap for the Dominion spies – a meeting of the entire network – but I can't apprehend them alone."

"They would overpower you – or more likely, kill you outright."

"Yes. I need some kind of police force."

"There is no dedicated police force. All soldiers are required to do police duty when necessary."

"So how do I assemble a force?"

"You arrange it with the local commanding officer. Here on the station, that would be Colonel Ka'rech." Ervan used a PADD to open a channel, and handed it to Odo. "Here."

The changeling inclined his head, turning to leave. "Thank you."

Ervan turned to Dax. "We have a solution."

She turned away from the computer. "What is it?"

"Odo is holding a meeting of the entire spy network. That should draw the judge away. All we have to do is delay until the meeting begins."

"How long is that?"

Ervan paused for a moment. "I'm not sure. I'll ask Odo." He turned to leave, but Jadzia held up her hand.

"I'll do it." She tapped her combadge. "Dax Gamma to Odo."

After a moment's delay, the response came. "Yes?"

"When is this meeting of yours?"

"Tomorrow, at 1600. Why?"

"Because that's when my trial ends. Thank you." She ended the communication. "Well," she said, turning back to Ervan. "That's still five hours I've got to delay the sentence. We don't even have any new evidence."

"Well, you…" Ervan trailed off. "You're right. None you want to warn him about." He shrugged. "You'll have to improvise."


	4. Chapter 4

Dax Gamma sat back down in the courtroom. She had managed to make it up to lunch, and, from the way the judge had charged out for it, she suspected she wouldn't have to delay her for the full four-and-a-half remaining hours. The judge walked in, helmet on, as usual. She would have been able to gauge more closely how long she had to delay if she could see the judge's expression.

The Kredaile sat down. "We will resume the case. Computer, resume tribunal, Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax Gamma." The computer beeped in response. She looked over the automated transcript of the case. "Now, Lieutenant Commander, at the beginning of lunch recess, I had just finished re-presenting the military's prosecution in detail. Do you have any objections?"

The Trill stood. "Yes."

The judge sighed audibly, but gestured for her to continue. "State them."

"First, there is evidence that the accident upon which you cast so much doubt was, in fact, not planned by the Federation. Second, I do not concede the assumption that Starfleet's intentions are equivalent to my own. If you want to try Starfleet, try it as a whole, not by some dubious proxy. Finally, I assert that the evidence presented merely states the possibility of a murder; it does not prove it, or even demonstrate it to be likely."

"As you wish." She sounded exasperated. "Your objections will now be addressed."

Odo and Captain Sisko stood as their guests, the Marshal and Colonel Ka'rech, entered the mess hall. The changeling inclined his head in respect. "Thank you for joining us."

The two Kredaile sat down, and the Marshal spoke. "What have you to say?"

The captain spoke. "I know what I say must come as a shock, but I _do_ have proof. Don't dismiss it." After a moment's pause, the Marshal gestured for him to continue. "The Kredaile have been infiltrated by a Dominion spy network."

"Spies?" The colonel sounded incredulous. "Our changeling field keeps them out. You know, Constable, you experienced it yourself."

Odo shook his head. "They're not changelings, Colonel. They're Kredaile."

"Kredaile spies?" The Marshal leaned forward. "How are they contacted?"

"They aren't, apparently." Sisko explained. "They seem to have been planted generations ago, and pass the job on to their children. I believe they are instructed to act when the Dominion is threatened, to reduce the danger. Unfortunately for them, they've had it too easy. They've gotten sloppy."

"And that led you to them."

Odo nodded, retrieving the recording of his interrogation. "Yes. I managed to trick one of them into thinking I was a Dominion agent. He gave me a treasure trove of information." He played the recording.

The Kredaile watched in silence, and when it was over, they sat motionless. Since their helmets were deployed, their expressions were invisible, but it was still apparent they were impressed. After a few moments, Sisko spoke. "So, the constable has now called a meeting of the entire network, and we thought it would be the perfect chance to arrest them." He gestured to Odo.

"They are meeting in the briefing room of your station, today at 1600 hours."

The Marshal stood. "Very well. Colonel, Constable, you are to use whatever means necessary to apprehend or eliminate them." He gestured with his head to Sisko. "Captain, a word." The two moved to a corner of the room. "Captain, this is disconcerting news, and I am grateful you brought it to me. I understand one of your crew is on trial for the death of Ervan."

"Yes. Is there any way you could suspend the trial without raising suspicion? I'm sure there'll be no more reason to prosecute after the spies are dealt with."

"Unfortunately, I have no authority over the judges. I do, though, have authority over _executions_. If that is the sentence, and I expect it to be, I'll make sure it's delayed until she can be properly acquitted."

"All right. Thank you."

Colonel Ka'rech drew up a map of the station, glancing between Odo and the display. "We'll set up perimeter force fields two minutes into the meeting. I can give you twenty security guards to assist."

"But there are more than a hundred in there. We'd still be overwhelmed."

"No. You see, every suit of armor has, built in, a dose of liquid sedative. On a remote command, we can inject that sedative and render the wearer helpless. The security guards are only there to help you carry them away, and as a failsafe. That's also the purpose of the force fields."

"Very well. We should begin preparations immediately."

Dax Gamma bit her lip. The judge was almost done with her objections, and she still had nearly an hour to go. If she were back in the Federation, she might have a few tricks still left, but she didn't know the system here nearly as well. She paused. _Maybe this is just what I need_, she thought. Looking up, she noticed the judge had just finished. She stood, making sure to look a little defeated. "Thank you. I have one more request."

The Kredaile shook her head and sat down. "What?" she snapped.

"In the Federation it is customary to read the record of a defendant before the case begins. In this case it's too late, but I would still like it read before the sentence."

"Very well." The judge bowed her head. "You understand that delaying the sentence won't do anything to lighten it."

"Yes, but the record should inform your decisions. It'll let you understand the defendant and her motivations."

"As you wish. It will not change anything. Computer, access and read the record of Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax Gamma."

Dax interrupted the computer. "No, no. My _complete_ record. We have a record for all the symbiont's hosts."

Again the judge shook her head. "Computer, access and read the record of all hosts of the Dax symbiont, chronologically." The computer beeped and complied.

Odo tapped his combadge. "Odo to Ka'rech."

The colonel responded. "I see you've tied in to our communications network. Are you prepared?"

"We are. I'm moving into starting position. Communications blackout begins now."

The changeling tapped his combadge twice and it deactivated. The security guards hid in adjoining rooms to the hallway, and Odo entered the briefing room, waiting for the meeting.

Almost immediately, people began to trickle in, and by the time the meeting was to begin, every seat in the room was filled. The changeling addressed himself to the crowd. "My fellow guardians of the Dominion, welcome. I have convened this… unusual meeting to reward you for your services. The Dominion considers the Federation a serious threat, and through your actions, the Federation and the Kredaile will remain separate. Congratulations."

Odo mentally calculated that the force fields ought to have activated. He stepped towards the door. "So… I present your reward."

On the outside of the briefing room, the security chief entered the sedative command. The other security guards converged and entered. The first received a phaser blast through the chest. Odo leapt back behind the wall. "What happened?"

The security chief shook his head. "They must have disabled the injection system somehow. We must retreat."

The constable nodded, gesturing for the security guards to pull back. A heated firefight had developed at the door, and followed them down the hallway, until the last of the security had passed the force field perimeter. The security chief quickly raised the last force field, sealing the spies inside. He and Odo rushed to the station's control center.

Colonel Ka'rech looked up as the two rushed in. "What's happened?"

The security chief reported. "The spies avoided the sedative, somehow. We sealed them inside the force field barrier."

The colonel paused for a moment, then turned to one of the officers around him. "Flood the sealed area with sleeping gas. Their armor won't be able to sustain them for more than a few minutes. We'll wait them out."

In the briefing room, a loud hiss began to fill the air. One of the spies recognized it. "Sleeping gas!"

Another one asserted herself as leader, organizing the relatively random group. "Engineers, see what you can do to stop the gas. Soldiers, guard the perimeter. Everyone else, try to breathe as little as possible. We want to hold out as long as we can."

A few minutes later, an engineer approached the self-proclaimed leader. "We tapped into the control circuits. We have partial control of the station."

"Excellent. What do we have?"

"Life support, thrusters, and external communications. We might get security in a few minutes."

"Good. Remove the sleeping gas and pump it into the rest of the station. In a few minutes, we'll have the whole station."

Dax Gamma was relieved. Her judge had finally left, barely a minute before the meeting, calling a recess until the next day. She was thinking about how Ervan's imminent public return would affect their relationship when she heard a hiss. She had enough time to realize she was being gassed before drowsiness made her fall to her knees. _Sleeping gas_, she thought as she began to lose consciousness. _Where am I being taken?_

Colonel Ka'rech looked up as the gas began to fill the control center. Reacting quickly, he sealed his armor began to use the few minutes' life support of which it was capable. Furious, he turned to the station's engineer. "How did this happen? Those circuits are shielded!"

She shook her head. "I don't know, sir. The system has a local failure. No explanation."

Before the colonel could respond, he received a call. "Colonel – I'm sorry for the deception, but this _is_ under control."

The Colonel snapped to attention. "Marshal! What do you want me to do?"

"Evacuate the station. Intelligence will handle the rest."

"Yes, sir." The Marshal cut the communication, and Ka'rech opened the station intercom. "This is Colonel Ka'rech to all occupants. Evacuate immediately. All station personnel to the escape pods. All other personnel will evacuate by shuttle."

The crew of the control center stayed on another minute, until the shuttles and other escape pods had launched. Odo, unaffected by the gas, followed the colonel into an escape pod. The pod launched, and the station was left in the spies' hands.

Dax Alpha was the officer on watch when the order to evacuate the station was given. She tapped her combadge. "Dax to security. Guard the airlock. No one boards or leaves without my permission." She addressed the computer. "Are there any crew members missing from the _Defiant_?"

"Affirmative. Constable Odo and Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax Gamma are missing."

Before she could react, her combadge beeped. "Security to Dax Alpha."

"Dax here."

"Commander, I've got someone asking permission to leave."

"Who?"

"It looks like Ervan, sir – but he's dead."

"Just – let me speak to him." She paused until Ervan responded. "Ervan, don't go out there. The whole station is flooded with gas. There's no way to get off, and your armor life support will only last a few minutes."

"I have to go find Dax Gamma. It's my responsibility. Without me, this affair would never have begun."

"Ervan, I'm not letting you off the ship. We're leaving."

There was a long pause, then the Kredaile spoke. "Very well. You're right, I wouldn't have been able to do much." The communication was cut off before Dax could respond.

Captain Sisko entered the bridge as the _Defiant_ was backing away from the station on thrusters. He gestured for Dax to give up the command chair. "Report, Commander."

The Trill complied and stood, letting the captain sit. She bowed her head as she gave her report. "We got an order to withdraw from and evacuate the station. I sealed off the ship and pulled away."

"All right. Thank you." Sisko turned to the helmsman. "Standard orbit, but keep us as far from the station as possible."

"Aye, sir."

Worf at the tactical station looked up. "Sir, the shuttle's launching. Without authorization."

Benjamin tensed instantly. "Tractor it."

"Tractor beam's sabotaged, sir."

He shook his head. "Scan it. Who's in there?"

"One Kredaile…" Worf reported. Sisko was about to conclude the worst and open fire when the Klingon added, "Ervan." The senior officers tried to ignore the others' surprise.

Dax gasped. "He tried to leave the ship before. He's going for Dax Gamma."

Sisko paused to consider, then sighed, relaxing. "Let him go." Worf began to protest, but the captain interrupted. "The station's unarmed, and Ervan's the best pilot I know. I would've risked the _shuttle_ for Dax myself. Let him go."

Ervan pushed the shuttle's engines as hard as they would go. Despite the fact that the station was unarmed and unshielded, he felt an urgency in his situation. Dax was in danger, and he could get her out. It was his responsibility, not to mention his desire, to do so. As he passed the launching escape pods, he detected a changeling passenger on one. Odo was safe. He only had to be concerned with Jadzia.

The Kredaile brought the shuttle close to the station's hull, scanning the interior for Trill life signs. Within a few moments he had locked onto Dax's signal and beamed her up, silently thanking Federation transporters. He rushed over to check on her, and found her unconscious but alive and well. Propping her up in the copilot's seat, he pulled away from the station and set an intercept course for the _Defiant_. He felt no particular rush, though, and set the shuttle on autopilot. He then gave his full attention to Dax Gamma and revived her.

She woke, almost immediately checking her surroundings. Ervan put a hand on her shoulder. "Wake up, Jadzia. You're safe."

She shook herself into alertness. "What happened?"

"A backfire of the trap for the spies. They gassed the station. The _Defiant_'s waiting for us in polar orbit. The shuttle's on autopilot." He paused, then decided to create a conversation. "Apparently the rest of your tribunal went well."

She chuckled. "Yes, but the end was less than ideal."

"Well, you're still here, intact and conscious. It can't have been that bad."

She bowed her head, conceding the point. Looking up, she noticed that they had almost reached the _Defiant_. She took control of the shuttle, throwing an apologetic glance at Ervan when he noticed. "I _do_ have more experience docking these shuttles."

He reached over and pulled Jadzia bodily out of her chair, setting her down in a passenger seat. "You were also unconscious less than five minutes ago. Let the computer handle it."

On board the station, the spies had escaped the force fields. The impromptu leader made her way to the command center, leaving orders to cloak the station and filter the gas out of the air. Along with a few comrades, she entered the command center, calling out orders. "Reestablish control from here. Check if there are any transports left. Open a channel to the nearest Dominion base."

The others obeyed, and the main screen activated. A Vorta appeared, sitting behind a console, with a complex headset. He looked up at the screen and spoke. "This is Gamar."

The Kredaile spies' leader retracted her helmet. "I am Agaket, of the espionage network on Kredaile. We have been discovered. We need to be retrieved."

Without warning, the screen shut off. As Agaket turned towards the engineer at the communications station, she felt something prick her arm. She fell to the floor, paralyzed, as did all the others in the command center, save the engineer. He stepped out from behind his console. "Thank you for the brilliant demonstration." He retracted his helmet. "Allow me to introduce myself. Captain Yzug, Kredaile Intelligence. We orchestrated this."

He paused, then sat down. "I'm afraid that when you tried to dismantle your paralysis devices, you did nothing at all. We simply changed the codes to stop you at our convenience." He entered a few commands at the communications console, and retrieved a chip with Agaket's message on it. "A simple redirection to the Marshal's office, and a holographic filter. Thank you again for this evidence. It'll be crucial in securing your executions." He walked out, opening a communication to Colonel Ka'rech. "You may return, Colonel. Order is restored."

On the _Defiant_, Ervan felt liberated. He walked freely through the halls, disregarding who saw him. Many people were shocked by his presence, but they didn't ask him about it. Captain Sisko had apparently promised to explain. As he wandered, he passed Doctor Bashir, who stopped him. "Ervan, when you have a moment, could you come by sickbay? I have something to ask you."

The Kredaile turned to follow Bashir. "I am available now; I was simply wandering the halls. What do you have to say?"

The doctor waited until they had reached sickbay, then invited him to sit down. "Ervan, I believe one of your hearts is dead, and that has changed your standing in society?" He waited for the Kredaile to confirm, which he did, before continuing. "Now, I believe Kredaile medical technology isn't up to this, but the Federation can do some ingenious things, and this is one of them. I can grow you a new heart, using some cloning techniques, and transplant it in you. You'd be back to your old status in days." Julian grinned as he watched Ervan's surprise. "Well, what do you say? Shall I make a new heart for you?"

Ervan didn't react for several seconds, then stood. "I don't know. Don't start it yet, but I may ask you to later." He turned and walked out, quite slowly.

Julian was shocked at Ervan's response to what he had thought to be good news. "Certainly," he murmured. "No rush…"

Ervan called to the computer as he walked out of sickbay. "Locate Dax Gamma."

The computer beeped in acknowledgement. "Lieutenant Commander Dax Gamma is in her quarters."

He paused for a moment, trying to remember where it was. After a moment, he gave up. "Computer, guide me there." The computer began to speak instructions to him as he walked, and after a minute of navigation, he arrived. He rang the bell.

After a momentary delay, Dax called, "Come in." Ervan entered, and she stood up, setting her work aside. "What's wrong? You look like someone tore your heart out."

"No," he said, sitting down. "But the doctor's threatening to put it back in." When she didn't seem to understand, he explained. "Doctor Bashir thinks he can clone and replace my dead heart."

Jadzia nodded, beginning to understand. "But if he does that, you'll be restored to duty."

"Precisely. I'm not sure I want that… but is it my duty?"

"Well, are there laws about it? Precedents?" He shook his head. She sat down to face him, taking his hand. "Then that's something for you to figure out for yourself."

"I believe you should have some influence over the decision. It will affect you as well."

"I know what you're thinking, Ervan, but I can't make the choice for you. Maybe you're not used to having this freedom, but you have to try."

"But… wouldn't _you_ rather I stayed a Var'dek?"

Jadzia sighed. "Of course I would, but that's not the point. If you made that decision because of me, and you ended up unhappy because of it, I wouldn't forgive myself. Besides, if I decide what you do with your freedom, it isn't yours anymore."

"Very well."

"But just because I won't decide for you doesn't mean I can't help you. Maybe I can… simplify the question." He looked at her inquisitively, and she continued. "Ervan, realistically… how much of an effect would it have if you abandoned the Kredaile war effort?"

The Kredaile responded almost immediately. "It would be negligible. To be practical, none."

"There, the question's that much simpler. They don't _need_ you, Ervan. It's a question of will, not of duty."

"I'm not so certain," Ervan replied. "If I leave, I'll be setting an example. I could cause a mutiny and destroy everything I've fought to protect."

Dax sighed. "I don't know. I don't have the same experience you do. But think – even if you _do_ set an example, it's the others' decision to follow it, too. It would be their fault, not yours. Also, if an example is all they need, why haven't they done it already? Many of your neighbors could be examples. The Federation could be an example. I don't think they'll be much affected by another one."

Ervan sighed. "I don't know… I need more time to think." He stood, and Jadzia followed suit.

She reached out and pulled him to her, noticing that he relaxed greatly as she held him. She gently pushed him back onto the bunk, leaning in and kissing him. "Sleep on the problem. For right now, though, you need to relax." She grinned provocatively. "I know I can help you with that."

Jadzia pushed his head down to the bunk's pillow, easing him into lying down, and sliding in on top of him. It was only when she began to remove his armor that he stopped her. "What are you doing?"

She kissed him again. "This is what people do when they're in love."

She continued, but he stopped her again, more forcefully. "Are you… trying to _mate_ with me?"

She chuckled at his phrasing. "We have more colorful words for it, but… yes. From what I can tell, we're compatible – or at least, we won't poison each other."

He slid her off him and sat up. "Don't. It is not acceptable."

She sat down again, concerned. "Oh… I'm sorry." She offered her hand, and the Kredaile took it. "Why not?"

"We have not been assigned to each other."

Dax frowned. "You know the Federation doesn't assign mates. I thought you told me Var'dek aren't assigned any either."

"That's true," he conceded, "but even if we aren't assigned anyone, it is wrong to take an undeclared mate."

Jadzia was puzzled. "You want to _declare_ our mating?"

"It's not bad, or even unfamiliar. It's almost identical to one of your institutions – oh, what was it called? – _mirage_, maybe…"

"Marriage?" She offered.

"Yes, that was it." He paused. "Now, if you're willing to declare it first, you're right. We should be biologically compatible."

"How does this declaration work?"

"I simply inform the government I've assigned myself a mate, and we inform our friends and comrades. It's really much simpler than the marriage rites I read in the database, and more permanent."

"More permanent?" She asked.

"Yes. It is, quite simply, final. If we declare our mating, there's no way to take it back. Perhaps that won't much affect the people in your quadrant, but Kredaile mate for life." His expression darkened. "And we take it seriously."

"Oh, and we don't?" Dax wondered whether to take offense.

"The reversibility of your institutions shows a childish lack of conviction."

She decided she should. "Says the man who comes running to me with the first decision of his life."

Ervan was taken aback, but quickly recovered. "When I decide about being a Var'dek, with or without your help, my decision will be final. At least I have the courage to commit to something."

"Is it courage?" Dax took the offensive. "Or is it that you throw yourself blindly into things because you don't know a better way?"

"Our way is simple, practical, clear… decisive. Isn't that better than your confused and convoluted rituals?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. It might be precisely those rituals that make us think about the meaning of what we do, and its significance. If taking a mate for life is no more complicated than a military assignment, it doesn't mean anything anymore. It's simply the pairing of egg and sperm, as ordered by the government."

"If this… _love_ is so sacred in the Alpha Quadrant, why is it betrayed? Why is it you let people renege on promises of a lifetime?"

"Because the bond has to be _personal_. If the government's needed to enforce it, it never should have been made in the first place."

"So you let them take it back. When they can undo all their mistakes, there's no need to learn from them."

Dax could see Ervan's blood rising, the protruding arteries along the back of his neck beginning to flush pink. She herself could feel her spots beginning to tingle. "You of all people should know that the inexperienced need to be protected from their mistakes. Otherwise they'll never get to use their knowledge."

"The inexperienced should never be allowed to make the important mistakes. They should learn from safety." He huffed in contempt. "I'm surprised you don't know that. It's basic strategy. Our command structure is based on it."

"Our government doesn't regulate that tightly," she explained, lifting her head in superiority. "Because it doesn't claim to know better than us."

"Of course the government knows better." Ervan countered. "That's its purpose."

"No," Jadzia said, "governments are political. They each have myths they'd love to believe, but they naturally run on assumptions."

"Perhaps in your quadrant," the Kredaile responded, "but here we do better."

The Trill leaned forward. "Don't try to take the moral high ground against the Federation. It's our specialty."

Ervan crossed his arms in defiance. "I'm not afraid."

She took a moment to think, breathing deeply. "How is it right to deprive so many people of their freedom of choice to fight an endless war? Isn't it more humane to stop fighting?"

The Kredaile tensed, the now-scarlet flush in his arteries spreading to his face. He was silent for a moment, then spoke, his fists clenched in anger. "We fight out of necessity! Have you ever seen what the Dominion does to its defeated enemies? Entire species have been condemned to lives of suffering! You ask if it's more humane to stop fighting. Hah! Victory or death, it's better than what happens to those who surrender. _They're_ inhumane, not us. The Kredaile are _gentle_ compared to the Jem'Hadar, or the Vorta, or the…" Ervan paused, catching breath, trembling with fury. "Or the Founders," he spat. "We have to fight to survive. Don't you _ever_ believe we're the aggressors."

A part of Dax began to feel sorry for Ervan, to try to hold back. _That's probably Audrid_, she thought, _that mother hen. I'm not done yet._ She leaned forward, pressing her attack on what was obviously a sore spot. "You fight out of necessity." Ervan nodded curtly, still shaking slightly. She continued. "That implies you intend to give it up when it becomes unnecessary. Well, it seems to me you aren't preparing well for that eventuality. You don't even know what to do with peace." She shook her head. "It seems you just want this war to go on indefinitely."

Ervan stood forcefully, his voice now easily a shout. As he spoke, his blood began to lose oxygen, and his face slowly turned yellow. "That's easy for you to say. You Starfleet people fought the Dominion once or twice, but you've never seen _war_. You haven't seen the radiation minefields, the planetary bombardments, the flash of ten thousand deaths. How _dare _you make such an arrogant assumption! I've seen horrors that can still make me sick, years later. You've been protected by Starfleet and had blows cushioned by technology. You're _children_."

The door hissed open again, and Sisko stepped in. "Dax," he began, but Ervan interrupted him.

"Get out."

Benjamin, surprised, looked over to Ervan. "What?"

The Kredaile's patience snapped, and he whirled on the captain, lifting him into the air with one arm. "I said, _get out_!" he shouted, and threw him back through the door and across the hallway.

Jadzia got a hold of herself. She realized she had pushed Ervan too far. _Much_ too far. She took a moment to calm herself, then tried to cool his temper, reaching out towards him. He swatted her aside violently and stormed out of her quarters.

Captain Sisko pulled himself up against the wall, shaking his head to clear it. He looked down the hallway and saw Ervan marching away. He tapped his combadge. "Sisko to security. Find Ervan and put him in the brig."

Dax Gamma emerged from her quarters, and rushed over to him. "Benjamin, are you all right?"

Sisko patted himself up and down. "Nothing broken."

She seemed relieved. "We need to find Ervan."

Benjamin nodded. "I sent a security team after him."

She tilted her head warily. "That might not be a good idea."

Ervan turned a corner to find two security officers standing in his way, phasers trained on him. "Stand down," one of them ordered.

The Kredaile flicked his armor's built-in phaser and hit both in rapid succession. Stepping over their bodies, he continued towards the transporter room. He was almost there when a force field appeared in front of him. He instinctively threw himself backwards to escape imprisonment, but he was too slow and another field materialized behind him. He sat down, trying to think past his anger.

Within a few moments, security guards arrived from both sides and watched him, phasers ready. Another minute and Dax and Sisko entered. The captain stepped up to him. "You attacked a superior officer. Isn't there a punishment for that on Kredaile?"

"Yes." Ervan sounded significantly calmer, and the flush in his face was gone. Dax thought she could hear a hint of regret in his voice.

"What is it?" Benjamin asked.

Ervan reached into his armor's backpack and retrieved a phaser. Setting it down, he removed his armor and rolled up the right leg of his pants. "Pain." Ignoring protests and pleas from both the captain and Dax, he took the phaser and pointed it at his thigh. Setting it on maximum heat, he fired into his leg. Although his skin bubbled and peeled, and his muscle blackened, he kept the trigger pressed until he could see his bone. He breathed heavily and looked up. "Did I scream?" he asked.

Jadzia, a little shaken, squatted down to bring herself level with him. "No," she said, hoping that was a good thing.

He winced as he shifted his legs and rolled up the other side. "Not enough," he explained, and fired again, this time letting the beam go slowly down the leg as it revealed his bone. A few centimeters away from his kneecap, he cried out and collapsed.

Sisko tapped his combadge. "Sisko to transporter room. Lock onto Ervan and beam him to sickbay." He watched the Kredaile dematerialize and turned to the security guards. "Guard him," he said, gesturing towards sickbay. "When the doctor's done with him, put him in the brig. Disarmed."

Ervan looked up as the door to the brig opened. Dax Alpha entered, and he tried, and failed, to stand. His legs, though regenerated from their wounds, had been left open to the pain at his request. He wanted to remember his crime. She walked up to the force field and stayed there. "I understand you and Gamma had a… disagreement."

"Yes," he responded. "Did she send you?"

"No, I decided to come myself." She paused a moment. "What was your argument about?"

Ervan sighed. "Permanence of commitment… Upon reflection, it wasn't worth fighting over."

Dax Alpha shook her head. "Most fights end like that. They just usually don't include two stunned guards and third-degree burns." She smiled at him. "Look, Captain Sisko said he was going to parole you tomorrow morning. I'll arrange for you to have some time with Gamma after that."

He inclined his head in thanks, a faint smile beginning to appear. "That is kind. Thank you."

She chuckled. "I know the feeling. Don't mention it."

Odo stepped onto the bridge, and Captain Sisko turned. "Back from the station?How did your interrogation go?"

"I managed to extract some… sensitive information. You should call a senior staff meeting."

"All right." Sisko opened the ship's intercom. "All senior staff, report to the bridge."

It didn't take long for the senior officers to assemble. Sisko looked at Odo. "Well, constable, what's this about?"

The changeling leaned forward slightly. "As you know, when I interrogated the first spy, he hinted that the Kredaile didn't know their own origin. I didn't want to raise his suspicions then, so I ignored it. With a second chance, however, along with a little persuasion, I managed to pry some very disturbing information out of them." He looked around. "Where's Ervan? This concerns him."

"He's… not available," Sisko improvised.

Dax Gamma tilted her head out the bridge door. "He's in the brig. He had a… fit of temper."

"This is still too important to leave him out," Odo insisted. "Leave him in there, if you want, but tie him in through the intercom."

Captain Sisko shrugged. "All right." He opened the intercom to the brig. "Sisko to the brig. Let me talk to Ervan." The guard acknowledged and tied him in. "Ervan, this is the captain. Please respond."

Ervan's image appeared on the bridge's main screen. "I can hear you, captain. What is it?"

"Odo wants to include you in our staff meeting. Now, constable, could you _please_ tell us what's so important?"

Odo bowed his head. "According to the spy I interrogated, the Kredaile did not evolve. They were genetically engineered."

Bashir nodded. "That would explain their physiology. It seemed… too symmetrical."

"The question," Worf pressed, "is _who_ engineered them."

Dax Alpha added, "I would opt for _why_, but there's no reason not to answer both."

"The Dominion engineered them," the changeling explained.

"Why?" Ervan asked. "We've evaded their forces and killed millions of Jem'Hadar. Was it some kind of failed experiment?"

"Not at all. They intended you to be just what you are."

Sisko was puzzled. "For what purpose?"

"You know the Dominion's thoroughness. You also know the lethal impulses of the Jem'Hadar. Explain it yourself."

The group took a moment to contemplate. Dax Gamma was the first to speak. "A safeguard."

Odo nodded, confirming her guess. "They wanted to be able to keep the Jem'Hadar busy between conquests – so they made an enemy to elude them. And they built this spy network into it as a safety." He turned to look at Ervan. "It could keep you from being a real threat, mostly by limiting your speed. From what I can gather, your presence has been essential to the Dominion's survival."

Everyone turned to look at Ervan. He was stunned, to the degree of being unresponsive. Repeated queries from Sisko and others went unanswered.

Dax Gamma began to worry. She approached the screen, saying simply, "Ervan?" For the first time, he seemed to hear, responding to her by looking up at the screen. She continued. "Are you all right?"

He took a long time to answer. He seemed to pause and think for a full minute before finally responding, "No." He looked down, apparently embarrassed. "I'm… sorry, I'd rather not discuss it in front of all these people."

"That's all right," she said. "I'll come down in a few minutes." She turned to Odo. "Anything more?" The changeling shook his head. She glanced at Benjamin, who simply gestured at the door. She took the cue and left.

Ervan looked up as Dax Gamma walked into the brig, and smiled. "Jadzia."

The Trill deactivated the force field and entered the cell, letting the guard turn it back on behind her. She sat down next to Ervan, taking his hand. "Now," she said, "tell me what's wrong."

He took a breath to brace himself, then answered. "If you'd asked me a month ago what my purpose was, I'd have answered without hesitation: 'to resist the Dominion.' Asking me a few days ago would've generated an answer such as, 'helping the Kredaile and the Federation cooperate against the Dominion.' But now… what I've lived for all my life, what I've seen thousands give their lives to do, has been turned on its head. I don't know what my life means anymore, Jadzia. And I'm afraid it might mean nothing at all."

She squeezed his hand. "I don't know what to tell you, Ervan. The fact that you don't know the meaning of life only means you've dropped a false assumption. I can't give you an answer. Even the galaxy's best philosophers can't. But I can tell you this: you're not alone. I've wondered that a few times myself. And in the end, you have to come up with your own answer, because no one else's is going to let you live _your_ life. Welcome to the examined life."

He looked at her quizzically, and she explained. "It's a quote. 'The unexamined life is not worth living' – some ancient Earth philosopher."

He sighed. "Thank you." He held his breath, trying to think of what to say. After a few moments he gave up and exhaled. "I… should apologize. It seems much of what you said during our fight was justified. I simply didn't see it."

Jadzia shook her head. "Don't be sorry – there's no way you could've seen it, if it was buried that deep. When I said those things, I didn't have this in mind."

"Perhaps not, but it was insightful nonetheless." He hesitated, as if considering a confession. "I _had_ made up my mind, you know. Before the conference."

"About the heart?"

"Yes. I had decided to stay on the planet… but things have changed. I have to rethink my decision."

She smiled. "I'm glad you're reconsidering. If I may ask, why did you decide to stay?"

"I didn't know what I would do. Fear of losing control and duty to Kredaile were factors as well, but my main point was that my role was vague in the Alpha Quadrant. Here, I knew what I was… I don't anymore. So other factors may intervene." He let go of her hand. "I'll think about it further. I don't want to keep you from your duties."

She turned away from him for a moment, thinking. "Here – let me leave you with some music to help you think."

"_Music_?"

"Yes," she said, gesturing upwards. "The computer can play music for you. Didn't you know that?"

"What's _music_?"

Jadzia looked down, caught unprepared. "You… don't have music on Kredaile?" She thought a few seconds. "I suppose you wouldn't." She looked back up, smiling. "Let me show you – you're going to love it," she reassured him. "Computer, play me some simple music. Something by Xaru, or Mozart, maybe."

The computer complied, playing a minimalist yet tuneful Betazoid melody. Ervan seemed confused at first, but within seconds he began to smile. "It's… pleasurable. I don't know why, but it is."

She laughed. "I knew you'd like it. We don't know what makes it pleasurable either. We think it has something to do with language. Computer," she called, "continue playing music of this style." Sighing, she stood. "Well, I should go," she said. "I'll come back tomorrow when you're paroled."

"You'll come back _here_?" Ervan asked.

She chuckled. "Someone's got to help you get back to your quarters." She leaned over and they kissed. She pulled away and left, affording Ervan a backwards glance.

As soon as Dax Gamma had left the bridge, Dax Alpha took the captain aside. "Benjamin, I think you should consider a… rearrangement of quarters."

"Oh?" he asked. "What kind of rearrangement?"

She smirked conspiratorially. "Well, provided Ervan chooses to leave his heart dead and come with us, I have a plan."

"And you think he will."

"Yes. I don't pretend to know him as well as Gamma, but it seems to me almost anyone would choose to come in this situation."

Sisko tilted his head, granting her assessment. Then he looked back up at her, grinning. "What's your plan?"

"So, it turns out that Gamma and Ervan's argument was, apparently, about their relationship, or at least related to it."

"All right."

"But Ervan told me he didn't think it was worth fighting over, which probably means he would try to fix the disagreement, given the chance. Now, I don't know what exactly he'll do, but we should at least give him the best chance we can."

Sisko shrugged. "What do you have in mind?"

"Well," she said, the smirk beginning to return. "Odo would rather be alone, don't you think? And I could move into the Ambassador's quarters now that she's on Kredaile."

He quickly checked the list of quarters. "All right, but Worf just recently moved out into the Ambassador's aides' quarters, so that leaves…" His grin reappeared, wider than before. "Ervan and Gamma together. I see what you're getting at. That's _devious_… Curzon would've been proud."

She chuckled and shifted, looking down, slightly embarrassed. "I actually feel like Audrid. She was quite a matchmaker, when she got the chance."

The next day, Ervan was paroled. After the formal proceeding had ended, Dax Gamma helped him to his quarters. As he sat down, Odo entered. "Ah, Ervan. They're doing some quarters-shuffling; you've been reassigned."

Dax Gamma looked at the changeling, puzzled. "I didn't hear about this."

"Maybe your counterpart has. All I know is, I get a room to myself." He grinned.

Ervan took his possessions – armor, a change of clothes, and a PADD loaned to him for reading – and stepped out into the hallway. "Computer," he asked, "Where are my quarters?"

"Room 311," it responded.

"That can't be right," Jadzia interjected. "That's Alpha's and my room. Computer, what are my…" she trailed off as she realized the computer couldn't tell her apart from Dax Alpha. "What are Dax Gamma's quarters?"

"Room 311."

"All right, what are Dax Alpha's quarters?"

"Room 202."

She shook her head, tapping her communicator. "Dax Gamma to Sisko."

"Sisko here. What is it?"

"Benjamin, is there something wrong with the computer? It's moved Alpha's quarters up onto deck 2 and put me and Ervan together."

"Oh yes, that," he said. "It's doing that because I told it to."

"You what?"

"Ervan's your new roommate, Lieutenant Commander." Sisko emphasized her rank to press military discipline. "Is there a problem?"

She hesitated a moment, but didn't see a reason to oppose the reassignment. "No, sir. Dax out." She shrugged, helping Ervan into the turbolift. "I guess we're quartered together."

"Apparently so," he agreed. "Do you object?"

"No," she said, smiling. "I could think of worse roommates."

Ervan looked up, realizing the lift was waiting for a destination. "Room 311." As soon as the doors closed, he looked over at Dax. "Jadzia… I've decided."

She braced herself, unsure of how to take his tone. "What's your conclusion?"

"I'm coming with you back to the Alpha Quadrant."

She relaxed, smiling. Though she tried to think of something to say, nothing came to her. After a few seconds she gave up, settling for a vigorous hug. When she let him go, he nearly fell backwards. She had to catch him, but lost her balance, and both found themselves in a heap on the floor as the lift door opened. Both were helpless with laughter at the comical maneuver, and had to discourage more than one attempt by passersby to help them up. Eventually, Dax stood and brought Ervan to his feet. "Let's go."

A few hours later, Captain Sisko hailed Kredaile, asking to speak to the Marshal. Within moments, the screen shifted to an image of Kredaile's leader, his helmet retracted. Sisko noted this as a sign of trust, and bowed his head slightly in respect. "Marshal."

"Captain Sisko." The Marshal was puzzled.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, but we're about to leave. It's Federation custom to say goodbye. As you know, Ambassador Vork is staying with you. She has the means to contact us if necessary. "

"Very well."

"And Ervan is coming with us."

"He has been briefed on the reports we expect from him."

"Well, then, with your permission, we'll be on our way."

"I have no reason to hold you."

"Goodbye, then." The captain nearly laughed at himself, sounding so blandly polite. He reminded himself not to insult people like the Kredaile, and restrained his laugh.

"Goodbye." The Marshal closed the channel.

Sisko looked at the sensors officer. "Hail the station. Request permission to depart." He waved dismissively and got up from the command chair. "You have the bridge, Lieutenant Mincai. You know the drill – bring us home." He turned and left.

The lieutenant took the rare chance to sit in the command chair. "Aye, sir."

Ervan, sitting in his new quarters, felt the _Defiant_ pull away from the station. He stopped what he was doing and turned to the computer console. "Computer," he asked, "Can you show me a view of outside the ship?"

"Affirmative." The computer beeped, and the view from the _Defiant_'s bow appeared on the screen.

He leaned in to look at it. "Can you give me a view fixed on the planet?"

Again the computer beeped. "Affirmative," it said, and the view swiveled to show Kredaile and the station.

Within moments, the grey mass accelerated away, the stars stretching as they passed. It didn't take long for the planet to disappear. Ervan took a moment to reflect, then closed the view and returned to his work. "Computer," he said, "begin report log."

"_Report Log, 0 days after departure. I am aware that my assignment was objective in nature, but I believe it may be useful to record subjective impressions as well. Humanoids of the Alpha Quadrant seem to be a subjective people, as are we – but they do not see fault in their subjectivity. In fact, it brings them great joy. In order to understand these people, we must bear in mind that they are not soldiers; they have no common purpose at all. I have yet to understand all the implications of this state of affairs, but it is obviously a key difference from our society._"

He paused for a moment, considering if he had more to say. Finally, he shook his head and ended the entry. He looked up as the door chime sounded. He turned in his chair and pulled himself to his feet. "Come in." Dax Gamma stepped in, stretching. He looked puzzled. "You do not have to sound the chime to enter your own quarters."

She smiled. "Well, I didn't want to walk in on you without warning."

"Jadzia," he chuckled, "I offered to declare you my mate. I have nothing to hide from you."

"All right," she ceded. "I won't bother next time. Anyway, how are your legs?"

"They have improved. I believe I can walk independently now. Why do you ask?"

"My shift is over," she said, "but we're about to pass through a Class 3 nebula. I've never seen one before. Let's go look at it." Ervan turned to the computer display, but she pulled him back. "No, no – I mean really _look_ at it. In the flesh. We're moving at impulse to avoid the warp distortion effect, so we can go outside the ship, with permission."

Ervan shrugged, then smiled. "It sounds relatively harmless. If you get permission, I'd be delighted to go with you."

She grinned. "I'll tell the officer on watch." Tapping her combadge, she sat down and continued to stretch. "Dax Gamma to the bridge."

"Lieutenant Mincai here. What is it, Commander?"

Jadzia nearly rolled her eyes. Mincai was a particularly rule-bound character, which annoyed her frequently. "I'd like permission for me and Ervan to go out on the hull of the ship. We want to see the nebula."

There was a moment's pause, and Dax could almost smell a Starfleet Regulation coming. Eventually, the lieutenant spoke. "There are no repairs to be done, and no extraordinary circumstances. According to Regulation 2–"

She interrupted him, slightly annoyed. "It's a Class 3 nebula, Balayar. That's an extraordinary circumstance."

"It is not." His voice carried a hint of irritation as well. "And I am on duty, Lieutenant Commander. Please address me as Lieutenant Mincai." He ended the communication abruptly.

Dax sighed. "I guess I'll have to go over his head. Dax Gamma to Sisko."

After a moment's pause, the captain responded. "Sisko here."

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Benjamin, but I have a request."

"What are you thinking of, Old Man?"

"Ervan and I wanted to go see the nebula from outside the ship, but Lieutenant Mincai won't let us go. I was hoping to go over his head."

"Oh, go ahead, Dax. I'll take care of it."

"Thanks, Benjamin. Dax out."

Within minutes, Dax and Ervan were clambering out of the airlock onto the _Defiant_'s hull, their magnetic boots keeping them secured to the ship's armor. Wisps of yellow gas swept by, flashing a bright scarlet as they flowed around the navigational deflectors. The Kredaile watched Jadzia's face light up as she turned to follow a gaseous tendril. "It's beautiful," she said breathily through the comlink.

"Yes…" he exclaimed. "Magnificent."

"And we're weightless," she said, pushing herself gently off the hull. "I don't see why we're the only ones out here. This is the most fun I've had in weeks."

Ervan shrugged and kicked off the plating, keeping a hold on the ship with his hand. "How do I use the suit propulsion?" he asked.

"There are thrusters in your boots," Dax explained. "Just press down with your toes."

Letting go of the ship, Ervan pressed his toes down momentarily and felt a button click. A small discharge sent him gliding forward at walking speed. He reached out and grabbed the ship again, using it to arc around and move towards the bow. He began to swing around the ship like a gymnast when Dax's voice, through her laughter, interrupted him. "Ervan… a little help?" He looked up to see her rising slowly off the hull, spinning around a vertical axis several times a second. He launched himself at her and killed most of her angular momentum, landing gently on the bottom hull of the ship.

"What happened?"

She laughed. "I guess I had a little too much fun. I tried a pirouette without thinking what that would mean with no gravity. I was spinning so fast I was afraid to try to flip over. It might have made things worse."

"Well… I'm sure you would've found the courage, had I not been there."

Jadzia shrugged. "It doesn't matter. We're both here. And it's beautiful." She pushed off from the hull, but quickly stopped her momentum, letting herself hover less than a meter off the ship.

Ervan joined her, staring at the shifting colors. "This is why I came with you. There's so much to discover out there… a universe to explore. There is none of that on Kredaile." The two hovered for several minutes, contemplating the nebula.

Dax turned to face the Kredaile. "Ervan, does your… offer still stand? Of declaring ourselves mates, that is."

"Of course." He swiveled to face her.

"Tell me," she asked, "does it work like our marriages?"

"In what way do you mean?"

"In the Alpha Quadrant, married people don't just mate, but take care of each other, live together… marriage is social, even more than it is sexual."

Ervan shrugged. "The mechanics of the declaration of mates is vague in that aspect."

"Yes, but what about tradition? What is a typical declared couple like?"

He tilted his head, thinking. "They live in the same quarters, when not on military assignment. They… procreate, and are required to have and raise at least three children. Besides that, due to what you would call a lack of society, there's nothing."

Dax's forehead creased. "_Three_ children?"

Ervan nodded. "Kredaile law, to sustain the species. It wouldn't apply to us, though. They would deem us unfit parents – not to mention you 'weakening' the Kredaile gene pool."

She bit her lip, thinking as she continued to watch the nebula pass by. Finally, she turned to face him. "Would you be willing to have a wedding in Federation tradition?"

He bowed his head. "Yes, but not in place of a declaration – only in addition."

"That shouldn't be a problem. How much do you know about Federation marriages?"

"Only the legal effects of it," he confessed, "but I don't feel like learning now. Let's wait for the nebula to pass."

Jadzia smiled, wondering why she was having such a run of good luck. She decided not to question it. It was better enjoyed without worrying about its origin.

Ervan stepped out of the inner airlock door, closely followed by Dax. Removing her helmet, she stepped out of her space suit. "That was wonderful. Thank you for coming with me."

He shook his head. "Don't thank me. I enjoyed it greatly. Now, you were going to tell me about Federation marriages?"

"Yes," she said, stepping into the turbolift. "From what I can tell, they're much more complex than your declarations." She looked up as Ervan entered the lift. "Deck 3."

The computer beeped and the lift began to move. Ervan tilted his head inquisitively. "How so?"

"Well, typically, there's a period of time before the marriage _ceremony_ but after its announcement. It used to mean more a few centuries ago, but now it's just the time necessary to let people know and give them a chance to come attend the ceremony." The lift doors opened, and she stepped out. She turned to face him as he followed her. "It's called an engagement."

"I see. What of the ceremony itself?" Ervan asked, entering their room.

"There are many variations of that, depending on the particular cultures and preferences of the people involved. Since we're doing the declaration separately, I suppose it would be a Trill marriage – if you have no objections."

He sat down. "I don't know what I'd be objecting to. What does it entail?"

"Well, there's a bit of talking and formality, but the dominant part is, for a joined Trill, the _ashafli'e_. It's a kind of shortened _zhian'tara_."

Ervan leaned forward. "What's that?"

"You know about my symbiont, and the other hosts," Dax explained. "The idea in an _ashafli'e_ is for the couple to get to know each other better by talking to the symbiont's previous hosts. The hosts' memories are – temporarily – transferred into volunteers' bodies, and they talk to the new husband or wife."

He shrugged. "That sounds harmless."

"Well, for the most part. You haven't met Joran."

"Joran?"

She sighed. "My sixth host. He was given the symbiont by mistake… he was insane. He killed someone for denying him the symbiont and took it by force."

Ervan looked down. After a moment's pause, he spoke. "But he'd be in someone else's body. Whose?"

"Well, I don't know. In my _zhian'tara_ he was in Benjamin, but it might be Julian, or Odo… or Worf."

"I believe it would be safer if you put him in a human. I can restrain them… physically."

"That can be done. And there won't be any mental damage. The process is understood and controlled."

"In that case," he said, smiling, "I see no reason to object."

"Good. Then we're almost settled."

"Almost?" Ervan looked at her, confused.

Her expression darkened. "There's… something I need to talk to you about." She sighed. "The fight."

"Ah." He looked down, ashamed.

She sat down facing him. "I don't blame you for getting angry," she assured him. "I recognize I pushed too hard. But your reaction… was inexcusable."

"I know," he interjected. "I don't presume to seek excuse. But I can promise you I won't allow it to happen again."

"All right," she said. "I'll accept that – but I need one more thing."

"What?"

"After the fight, when you punished yourself – that scared me. I half-believed you were going to kill yourself right there. I need to know that you'll never do that to yourself again."

Ervan shook his head. "I can't promise that. It's my duty to administer Kredaile law to myself, in the absence of others to do so."

"But the circumstances are different," Jadzia sighed. "Your laws don't make sense here."

"Law is above circumstance," he countered. "I learned that lesson _very_ well…"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well…" he answered, "it's not a cheerful story." He looked at her, but she gestured for him to continue. He tilted his head, widening his eyes as if to say, _if you insist_, but he spoke. "When I was 5 years old – 18 years ago – my sister finished her training as a gunner. She was assigned to a fighter, to serve with a friend of hers. Now, despite the regulation, neither reported the assignment as inappropriate – in fact, they believed their better understanding of each other would improve their coordination. They were right; they were the rising star of the newcomers; but their rear gunner quickly deduced their friendship, and reported it." He breathed deeply for a second before continuing. "An infantryman was sent to administer punishment. My sister's friend did a year's manual labor, then resumed her post. My sister, however, decided to stand up against the law. Needless to say, Kredaile do not tolerate indiscipline. She was shot where she stood."

Dax leaned forward, more than a little shocked, unsure what to say. After a moment of contemplation, she settled on something. "Still, that doesn't apply here."

Ervan looked up at her. "I don't see why not."

"Well," she said, "visiting the Alpha Quadrant is an assignment, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"Then why didn't you report me as a _friend_, at least? If friendships are dangerous because of the devotion, what we have must be much worse."

He didn't seem to have an answer, finally saying, "It's… different."

"Is it?" she asked. "Why?" She paused, then began to list possible explanations. "Is it because you're isolated from the rest of Kredaile? I'm sure other ships have been isolated before. That hasn't changed the law. Maybe it's the fact that I'm a Trill – that only friendships with other Kredaile are dangerous – but that makes no sense. So what is it? I think it's because you _need_ a friend to survive in this new quadrant. You need me to save you from Quark, to tell you what to get from the replicator, not to mention to show you the wonders. And if that's true, that law is simply wrong. It was made without our society in mind, and so doesn't even come close to fitting it. In that case, what makes any of your laws valid here?" She looked up, but again he had no answer.

"Look," she offered. "You're the only Kredaile here, which means you're carrying around a little set of rules and punishments all to yourself. You're the only one who knows them, and you're the only one who can enforce them. Know what that's called? A conscience. So why not use your own, instead of adapting laws that were never meant to apply to anything less than a planet?"

Ervan breathed deeply, staring at the floor, contemplating what she had said. After almost a minute of reflection, he looked up. "You're right. The Marshal's law won't work here." He stood. "I promise not to harm myself in punishment."

She smiled, embracing him. "Well, then… get some sleep. We've got a declaration to make, first thing in the morning."


	5. Chapter 5

"_Report log, supplemental, 1 day after departure. In the absence of the assignment of a mate from Kredaile, and since, as a Var'dek, no such requirement should be forthcoming, I claim the privilege of initiative. The details of my assignment are as follows. Ervan, Var'dek, formerly Pilot, Class one, number 29390, hereby declares his mate to be the Federation Starfleet's Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax Gamma. Recorded reciprocation follows. This declaration of mating is legal under the Rules for Initiative and the Reproductive Doctrine._"

Ervan turned to Dax Gamma, who was leaning over his shoulder. He stepped out of the chair and she sat in it, reading a legal statement off a PADD. "_Reciprocation. The Federation Starfleet's Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax Gamma hereby declares her mate to be Ervan, Var'dek, formerly Pilot, Class one, number 29390. This declaration is allowed by the Fourth Guarantee of the Constitution of the United Federation of Planets._"

Ervan spoke from behind Jadzia. "Computer, close entry and send to message pod." He turned to her, coming around to her side. "Thank you. That was the easy part; now we have to inform anyone whom it will affect."

She shrugged. "That's not so hard. Let me show you." She tapped her combadge. "Dax Gamma to Sisko."

"Sisko here."

"Benjamin, could I use the mess hall for a few minutes around 1400 hours? I have a… personal announcement to make."

"All right."

"And Benjamin, I'd like you to come."

"Of course, Old Man. Sisko out."

She looked at Ervan. "See? Easy. Now… computer, invite the following people to the mess hall at 1400 hours for a personal announcement: Captain Sisko, Doctor Bashir, Odo, Worf, and Chief O'Brien." She paused for a second, as if forgetting something. "Oh, and Dax Alpha." She turned, laughing, to Ervan. "It's harder to remember yourself than you think." After a moment's pause, she added, in a more serious tone, "maybe we should use this to announce our engagement."

He shrugged. "It's your tradition."

"Yes, let's," she said, "but first, we have to get engaged." He tilted his head quizzically, and she explained. "There's a… ceremony for that, too."

"Ah," he smiled. "I should have known. What do we have to do?"

"All you have to do is answer the question I'm about to ask." She stepped close to him, resting her fingers gently on the sides of his head – where a Trill's spots would run. Looking up at him, she spoke. "Ervan, will you marry me?"

He chuckled. "_That's_ the question?" She nodded once, and he shrugged. "Well, then, of course."

She slid her arms around to the back of his head and pulled him closer, holding him in a kiss.

Doctor Bashir was the first to arrive. He glanced around the empty mess hall, finally looking at Dax Gamma, at the head of a few tables she'd moved together. She was discussing quietly with Ervan, sitting at her right. Julian approached them. "What's this about, Dax?"

She looked up and gestured to the chairs to her left. "Sit down," she said, beaming. "Just… wait for the others. I'll explain when we're all here."

He sat down, intrigued. Even for her almost notoriously upbeat tendencies, Dax Gamma had been acting particularly excited all day. Now she seemed even more so. It only took a small effort to deduce that she'd been looking forward to this – whatever it was. He decided not to risk spoiling it for her, and waited as she'd asked.

It took another three minutes for the rest of the group to assemble. Once they had all sat down, Dax Gamma stood. "Thank you all for coming. It means a lot to me to be able to tell you all this. So…" she seemed to hesitate for a moment, but quickly resumed. "I'm honored to announce," she said, bowing her head, "that Ervan and I are engaged."

The table erupted in exclamations of "That's wonderful!" and "Congratulations!", but Ervan managed to interject the declaration he needed to say.

Benjamin stood up, shaking Jadzia's hand. "Congratulations, Dax." He turned to Ervan. "Congratulations. You've made a fine choice… but I think you know that." He offered his hand to the Kredaile to shake. Ervan observed it, but didn't know what to do. He looked back up at Sisko, who understood. The captain took his hand and shook it in demonstration. "Like that," he said, "then I say, 'Congratulations,' and you thank me. Usually."

Ervan nodded once, to show he understood. "Thank you."

Julian was right behind the captain. "Jadzia. Good luck." He smiled humorously at her. "A few years ago I would've been green up to the ears in envy."

She chuckled. "That was while you were still wet behind them."

Bashir bowed his head in mock defeat and moved on to Ervan. "I'm not in love with her anymore, but I'm still her friend," he told him. "Take good care of her."

The Kredaile straightened, nearly standing at attention. "I will."

The others offered congratulations and left one by one. The captain hung back for a moment. "Dax," he suggested, "why don't you take the rest of the day off? We should get to the station in less than an hour. I'll arrange for quarters for the two of you."

"Thanks, Benjamin."

"No problem," he said. "You're not the only one who's been married."

The _Defiant_ dropped to impulse as it approached the wormhole. In a flash of light, a thick blue cloud spun out, bulging at the center. The bulge fell away in spirals, revealing a tiny, bright dot which stained the center of the cloud yellow. The ship flew into the dot and emerged within moments on the other side.

Immediately, Captain Sisko could tell something was wrong. The station looked less streamlined than usual – which he quickly attributed to the weapons systems' being deployed. Dax Alpha, at the sensors, was only moments behind him. "Sir, the station's shields are up." She looked at him, then back down at her console. "It's hailing us."

Sisko nodded at her. "On screen."

Major Kira appeared on the screen. "Captain."

"Major. What's going on?"

"We're being watched," she explained. "A cloaked bird of prey is somewhere near the station."

"Very well," he sighed. "Plan Delta."

The _Defiant_ flew in at high speed towards Deep Space Nine. Just as it was about to hit its shields, they dropped, and the ship applied full reverse power and brought itself to a stop inside the station's shield radius. Two Klingon attack cruisers, as well as a Romulan warbird, decloaked and opened fire.

The ship docked, and the captain rushed off, followed by the crew. He made his way, under flickering lights, to the turbolift, calling back behind him, "Battle stations!" He waited on the turbolift for the others going to ops. Once they had assembled, he called upwards to the computer, "Ops." He waited, but nothing happened. "Ops." Still nothing. He tapped his combadge. "Sisko to Kira. What's wrong with the turbolifts?"

"Main power is offline," she explained. "Rerouting auxiliary power… turbolifts operational."

"Thank you," he said, tapping his badge again to end the communication. "Ops." The lift sped upwards. When it arrived, Sisko stepped out of the way of the other officers, turning to Kira. "What's the situation?"

"They hit our shields as they were coming up." She shook her head. "Shorted out the deflector grid and half our systems. I've got us on backup life support, shields, and communications. Auxiliary power at 26%. I've called Starfleet, and we're expecting reinforcements in two hours."

Dax Gamma stepped up next to the captain, her station having been taken by Dax Alpha. "Where do you want me?"

Sisko held up his hand to tell her to wait, looking over his shoulder at O'Brien. "Chief, what can you do?"

He looked up from his console. "Not much from here. Down there, though, I might get us back some power."

Benjamin was about to tell him to keep his post when Dax Gamma stepped up to his station. "I can take over," she told both him and the captain.

With a nod from Sisko, the chief stepped back into the lift, calling, "Main reactor."

Kira looked down at the display. "They're making an attack run."

Dax Gamma steadied herself on the console as the station shook. "Shields at 47%," she reported. "And they didn't even use photons."

"We need to fight back," the captain said. "Worf, take a skeleton crew and take the _Defiant_ out. Dax," he called, then hesitated. "Both Daxes, assemble crews for the runabouts. We'll let you all out together. Worf, you'll have to give cover the moment the shields are down."

The Klingon nodded, he and the Daxes already moving towards the lift. "Aye, sir."

Ervan charged into the runabout, closely followed by Dax Gamma. Knowing the station was in danger, he was eager to help defend it. The landing pad rose until it became flush with the hull. Using low thruster power, he lifted the ship off. He'd never flown a Federation ship before, but he found the control system straightforward. Assuming a holding pattern behind the other ships, he waited for the _Defiant_ to lead the way. It only took a minute for the escort ship to pull away from the docking ring and assume its position at the head of the little line of ships. It circled around, and as it came to bear on the warships, the shields dropped. The formation surged forward to full impulse, the _Defiant_ putting up heavy covering fire. Before the Klingons or Romulans could respond, the ships had cleared Deep Space Nine and the shields snapped back on.

Ervan swerved off to one side, Jadzia operating the runabout's armament. He ducked under one Klingon ship, then passed aft of the second and accelerated towards the warbird, pulling up meters away from its shields. The _Defiant_ passed them as they turned back, firing its phaser cannons into the second cruiser. The enemy ships responded with a tangle of phaser and disruptor fire, most of it missing widely. The runabouts were being flown by the station's best pilots, and the _Defiant_, though less agile, could take heavy punishment. The warships' weapons weren't agile enough to keep up.

Jadzia looked up from her console. "Bird of prey decloaking, 209 mark 23."

Ervan snapped around, letting the runabout skid backwards as it fired on the Klingon. "Nice try," he taunted to keep his spirits up, "but I'm not giving you my tail." He swerved around its opening disruptor volley and passed over it, coming around behind it. The bird of prey ignored him, diving on another runabout.

The ambushed runabout dove away, circling around one of the cruisers before emerging above it, sending a photon barrage at its attacker. The bird of prey lifted its nose and returned fire with torpedoes of its own. The runabout peeled off and rolled upward, but the torpedoes quickly outran it and detonated, buckling its shields. A hail of phaser fire from the Romulan warbird forced it to turn around, right into one of the cruisers' disruptor blasts. In a bright orange plume of burning deuterium, the runabout exploded.

Jadzia bowed her head slightly, in respect for the two young ensigns who had just died. She'd known both of them. Ervan nudged her with his elbow. "No time for that. Keep firing." He ran rings around the bird of prey, drawing its attention. He kept away from the ship's torpedo launcher as long as he could, explaining to Dax his plan. "He's going to shoot torpedoes as soon as he gets a clear shot. I can't hold him off indefinitely. When he does, I'll run to give you the most time I can. Shoot the torpedoes before they hit us."

She shook her head. "The computer won't lock on to something that small!" she shouted over the sound of her own fire.

He shrugged. "Then do it manually – but do it _now!_" He rocketed away as two photon torpedoes flashed out from the bird of prey. Dax switched the phasers to manual and began to fire, knowing she had seconds before the charges hit. On a lucky shot, she took one out, but the other was still closing. She held a sustained beam in the torpedo's path, waiting for it to cross. Its guidance systems had no regard for phaser energy, and so flew obliviously right into the beam and detonated.

Ervan flipped the runabout over, calling to Dax, "More torpedoes!"

She reloaded the launcher, informing him, "There's only one more."

"Use it! The bird's shields are almost down."

She fired the last torpedo, which skidded away towards the Klingon bird of prey. Its detonation on the shields collapsed them, and Ervan dove in close. "Target the torpedo launcher," he ordered. "We've got them now."

A phaser shot was enough to burst through the ship's hull and tear the inner workings of its photon torpedo launcher apart. Dax took a parting shot and destroyed the Klingons' disruptors as the runabout passed them.

The _Defiant_ broke off its attack on the warships momentarily. Its shields were critically low, and its starboard warp nacelle was dark, punctured, and spewing plasma. It turned slowly to face the three immense ships. Worf signaled the runabouts and the station the simple quote: _Today is a good day to die_.

Captain Sisko hesitated when he heard the _Defiant_'s signal. He knew there was _something_ he could do, if he could only find it. He tapped his combadge. "Sisko to O'Brien."

"O'Brien here."

"How are we on weapons, Chief?"

He sighed. "Nothing, sir. Not enough power. With what we've got we could barely move the turrets."

Benjamin paused. "Move the turrets… that might be enough." He turned to the Major. "Lock onto the first Klingon cruiser. Train all the turrets on it. Hail them."

Kira obeyed, then looked back up at the captain. "No response."

The sensors officer looked up. "It's firing."

"On screen," Sisko ordered, just in time to see the cruiser vaporize its ally, the incapacitated bird of prey. The cruiser cloaked.

Dax Gamma exhaled as the bird of prey exploded. "There go our prisoners."

Ervan pulled the runabout away from the debris. "I presume this is an unusual occurrence?"

"Yes," she explained. "The owners of these ships don't usually cooperate."

The Kredaile sent the runabout forward at full speed. "We might still find out what's going on," he said. "Computer, lock onto the closest enemy ship and prepare for warp tow." As the Romulan warbird dropped its shields and began to cloak, he dove into the hollow in the ship's interior. "Take out their sensors. Computer, engage tractor beam," he ordered.

Jadzia obeyed, but without understanding. "What are you doing?"

He positioned the runabout parallel with the warbird's course, explaining. "We use the tractor beam to be pulled along with them. Since their sensors are down, they won't see us for a while. We can investigate what's going on." True to his word, the warbird pulled the runabout along as it accelerated to warp. Ervan stepped onto the runabout's transporter pad, beckoning to Dax. "Let's go."

The two shimmered into being in a hexagonal corridor. Ervan deployed his helmet, using its X-ray scans to see through the walls of the ship. "We're safe for the moment," he said, handing her a small device reminiscent of a phaser. "We should split up. You'll need this – it's a changeling scanner. We have to go through the crew individually."

She nodded. "I've got a theory. You work systematically from here."

"Good luck." He turned away, beginning his search for what he assumed was a changeling. Dax made her way to the turbolift, instructing it to bring her to the bridge.

Ervan looked through the corner of the hallway. He could see someone walking towards him. With any luck, the Romulan would pass him. He set his phaser on stun and backed against the wall. As his victim passed, the Kredaile charged. Taking him by one shoulder, he pinned the Romulan against the wall, phaser against the nape of his neck. Without a word, he pushed his prisoner into a small side room and followed. "Now," he ordered, pointing his phaser at the prisoner's head, "you're going to tell me everything you know about this mission."

The Romulan looked up at him in defiance, and activated his communicator. "Intruder aler–" Ervan stunned him before he could finish.

The Romulan security chief heard an intruder alert. Unable to pinpoint it, he did a quick scan of the ship and found a phaser discharge near engineering. He dispatched a security team to investigate and stepped away from his console to inform the captain. Before he reached him, the turbolift opened. This was routine, and he ignored it, but the captain turned casually to see who it was and froze. This was enough to draw his attention, and he whirled around to see a woman in Starfleet uniform standing inside. He drew his disruptor.

She held up her hand. "Hold your fire." The security officer walked up to her and took her phaser from its holster, and reached up to take a small phaser-like device from her hand. She held it away from him. "This isn't a weapon."

He grinned, snatching it quickly from her. "Isn't it? How should I know?"

She shook her head. "It's harmless. See for yourself." She stood with arms wide, inviting him to use it on her. He accepted, and a faint orange cone of light hit her. It had no effect. Puzzled, the Romulan used it on himself. Again, it had no effect. Dax extended her hand. "Can I have it back now?"

He smirked, amused by Starfleet's odd antics. "Only if you tell me what it is."

She bowed her head to show her submission. "It's a scanning device."

"Oh? What does it scan?"

"People."

The security chief hesitated for a moment, then handed the device to her, chuckling. "All right, Starfleet can play with its toys."

She accepted it from him. "Thanks. I know it seems useless, but it's really invaluable. You see," she said, firing it at the Romulan captain, "it exposes changelings!"

The captain cried out and melted into the changelings' characteristic liquid. The first officer froze, looking to the puddle representing his captain in the command chair, then at the Trill who'd reduced him to that state. After several seconds of indecision, he lowered his disruptor, asking Dax, "can you contain this… creature?"

She nodded, and tapped her combadge. "Dax to _Rio Grande_. Set up a maximum-level containment field and beam my combadge's signal into it." She removed her delta-shield badge and threw it into the liquid. In a sparkle of blue, the changeling disappeared.

The security officer moved back to his console and glanced at it. He turned to Dax. "Did you come alone?"

"No," she said, deciding the Romulans weren't going to harm them. "I have a partner in the lower decks."

"I believe I've found him." He invited her to look at his console. "An intruder alert and a phaser discharge, and now the security team is calling for backup against an armored figure."

She nodded. "That's him. I'll go stop him… if you'll let us go."

The security chief looked over at the first officer, who glanced back at Dax from the command chair. "Yes, we'll bring you back to the station. I expect the Federation has some questions." He turned to the helmsman. "Reverse course. Maximum warp."

"But…" the helmsman protested.

The first officer held up his hand to silence him. "I'll not give the Dominion the satisfaction of causing turmoil here." He turned to Dax. "Go find your… partner. Bring him here once he's peaceful."

She acknowledged, stepping into the turbolift along with the security chief. "Deck 63," he ordered, and they sped downwards.

Ervan checked behind him to make sure his prisoner was still unconscious. He didn't want him sneaking up from behind, but he didn't think killing him would help. The firefight was a tricky situation, and he might need a hostage to get out. Looking back, through the walls, to the four-man security team staking out the door of the room he'd hidden in, he drew his claws. Before he could launch his assault, however, he saw Dax, easily identifiable even in X-ray by her symbiont, approach. The Romulans seemed to ignore her. She stepped up to the door and sounded the bell.

Ervan flattened himself against the wall next to the door. He wasn't sure what was going on, but if it was a trap he wasn't about to fall into it. He opened a communication to the runabout. "Ervan to _Rio Grande_. Prepare to transport Dax and me on my command." He opened the door, pulling her inside. "Energize!"

The two materialized in the runabout. Ervan stepped out of the transporter alcove, still training his phaser at her. "What's going on? Why didn't they attack you?"

She sighed. "Calm down, Ervan. I found the changeling. They're going to bring us back to the station."

"They're our allies?"

"No. They're just… neutral. The changeling was their captain, but none of the crew has any reason to harm us. As long as we don't cause problems for them, we'll be fine. Besides, we haven't gotten far. It should only take us a few minutes to return."

He decided to trust her, and holstered his phaser. "All right. So what do we do now?"

Dax stepped back onto the transporter. "We go to their bridge. The new captain wants to see us."

Ervan shrugged and stepped into the alcove. "Computer, transport us to the ship's bridge."

The Romulan first officer, now acting captain, turned as Dax and Ervan appeared behind him. "Ah. Welcome." He stood up from his chair. "Now that we're done fighting each other, a formal introduction would seem to be in order. I'm Subcommander Ralor. Acting Commander."

Dax inclined her head in respect. "I'm Lieutenant Commander Dax, and this is Ervan." She elbowed him, whispering, "Take your helmet off."

He obeyed, and the Romulan looked him over in puzzlement. "What species are you?" he asked. "I've never seen one of your kind before."

"I am Kredaile."

Dax explained, noticing the Romulan was still confused. "They're from the Gamma Quadrant."

They were interrupted by the helmsman, who declared their arrival at Deep Space 9. Ralor turned to face forward. "Drop cloak," he ordered. "Hail the station."

Captain Sisko's image appeared on the screen. "What do you want?" he asked, clearly restraining his anger.

Dax stepped in front of the Romulan. "Benjamin," she said, "it's all right. Drop the shields and let us come back. We captured a changeling. Alive."

He paused for a moment, then nodded. "All right. Come in on the runabout. I'm not having anyone beaming over." He closed the transmission.

Ervan stepped a pace back from the command chair, and Dax moved over to join him. "Ervan to _Rio Grande_," he called. "Two to transport."

A few minutes later, the runabout had docked and Dax Gamma and Ervan arrived at Ops, going through to the captain's office. Sisko looked up as they entered. "Dax. Ervan." He chuckled. "Here's a report worth hearing."

She smiled. "Then I'll write you one worth reading. But for my preliminary report, maybe so. We managed to follow and infiltrate the warbird. On a hunch, I used Ervan's changeling scanner on the captain. He _was_ a changeling, and we sealed him inside the _Rio Grande_. The second-in-command was grateful enough to bring us back. I handed the changeling over to Julian. The rest is up to you."

Sisko tapped his combadge. "Sisko to Dr. Bashir."

"Bashir here."

"Doctor, what did you do with the changeling?"

"He's safe and sound in stasis, sir. I thought you'd want to keep him there until you decided what to do with him."

"You mean until _Starfleet_ decides what to do with him. I don't think I'll get much choice in the matter. Well, thank you. Sisko out." He turned back to Dax and Ervan. "Well? You're dismissed."

Ervan stepped forward slightly. "You… promised us quarters?"

Dax Gamma smiled. "We've been waiting for them for hours."

"All right," he laughed, picking up a PADD. "Here, why don't you take… chamber 102 on level 3."

"Thank you," Ervan said.

"You're welcome," Sisko responded, gesturing for them to leave. "Enjoy yourselves."

Jadzia looked back as they left. "We will."

Dax Gamma stretched out on the bed of their new quarters. "Ah," she joked, "Cardassian beds. Just as hard as I remember them."

Ervan looked around, finally turning back to her. "Am I to assume we're to share the bed?"

"Yes," she said. "That is, if you're all right with it."

He waved dismissively. "It's fine. I've never shared a bed before… it'll be an interesting experience." He removed his armor, unsticking his tunic from his skin, and laid down next to her on the bed. "Do you mind if I play some music?"

"Go ahead," she said, producing a PADD, "as long as it doesn't have words. I've got to write this report." She turned her head to look at him. "After that, though, would you like to take a look at the holosuites? I promise you, it's like nothing you've done before."

"Maybe later." He looked at her apologetically. "I'd rather explore the station before pretending to go elsewhere. Of course, I don't need you for that. You can still go."

She took his arm, sliding her hand down it until she reached his hand. "It was just a suggestion. Where I'd really like to be… is with you."

He smiled. "Well, then. But I'm distracting you. Please, get on with your work. Computer, play… Arthur Sullivan. Nothing with lyrics, though." It beeped and began to play a lively orchestral piece.

She considered for a moment, then spoke. "I'm not familiar with him."

"Neither am I," he confessed. "I came across him in my cell on the _Defiant_. It stood out, and I knew I had to ask for some kind of identification to be able to find it again."

"It's not bad," she commented. "Happy. Well… to work." She held up her PADD and shook it, then began to write her report.

The two Daxes, along with Ervan, met at an airlock waiting for her family the day before the wedding.

Ervan glanced over at Dax Alpha. "Has your family learned of the… accident?"

"Yes," she responded, "at least theoretically. But for now, Gamma," she turned to her counterpart. "This is your moment. I'll stick around, but things are up to you."

The airlock opened, and the first passengers of the transport began to disembark. Among the first cluster to appear was a Trill male who came up to them, smiling, arms wide. "Jadzia!" He hesitated for a moment, seeing the two of them. "Both of you." The two Daxes embraced him. He smiled awkwardly, looking from one to the other. "I can't tell you apart. I'm sorry to be asking this, but which one of you is getting married?"

Dax Gamma bowed her head slightly. "That would be me. And on the subject, father, may I present Ervan?" She gestured for the Kredaile to approach. "Father, this is Ervan – the man I'm marrying. Ervan, this is my father, Kela Idaris."

Kela turned to the Kredaile, offering his hand. "Hello."

Ervan hesitated momentarily, then remembered Captain Sisko's lesson. He shook his hand. "Greetings," he responded, a little too sternly.

Dax Gamma looked at the airlock, then back at her father. "Where are Mother and Ziranne?"

"There," Dax Alpha called, pointing over a few heads. A few moments later, they emerged and joined the others.

Ziranne rushed over to Dax Alpha, not seeing her counterpart. "Jadzia," she said, "wonderful to see you again! Congratulations on your engagement."

Dax Alpha chuckled and gestured to Dax Gamma. "She's the one you want. I'm the other one."

"Oh," she giggled, turning to Dax Gamma. "Sorry. Jadzia, wonderful to see you again. Congratulations on your engagement." She looked over Dax's shoulder, spotting Ervan. She came around to see him better. "And this must be your lucky man."

Dax Gamma laughed. "You could say that. Ziranne, this is Ervan. Ervan, Ziranne Idaris – my sister." Her mother tapped her on the shoulder, and she turned to face her. "Mother! Mother, good to see you. This is Ervan," she said, gesturing to him. "Ervan, my mother, _Lasana_ Idaris."

Lasana looked him up and down. "Not bad… not bad. I'd say he's handsome enough."

"Well, Jadzia," Kela hesitated, looked between the two Jadzias, then gestured at Dax Alpha. "You. Could I trouble you for a look around the station? I don't want to trouble your… counterpart too much. Not just before her wedding."

Dax Gamma walked over next to Dax Alpha. "It wouldn't be a trouble. Follow me."

Having finished their tour of the station at the bottom, the group made their way back to the upper levels. They conversed in Dax Gamma and Ervan's quarters before going to their own for the night. Lasana was telling an anecdote about Jadzia's name. "The building next to the hospital was under construction, and while I was falling asleep, there was this rhythmic, buzzing welding noise. By the time I woke up, it had pounded itself into my head and I had a name – Jadzia. Kela didn't like it at first, but after saying it a few times, he acquiesced."

Ervan shrugged. "If I may differ with you," he said to Kela, "I find Jadzia a beautiful name."

Dax Alpha agreed, glancing at her counterpart. "I like my name. We both do. In fact, I've heard many people say the whole Trill language is beautiful."

"I think it's missing something," Ziranne professed. "Take a word – oh, I don't know – woman, for example. In Trill, a woman is a _shisa_. Yes, it's fluid, but there's no energy – no life. What's the word in your language, Ervan… Kredaile, isn't it called?"

Dax Gamma held up her hand, cautioning her sister. "Careful. Kredaile has the occasional similarity to Trill, but it's closer to Klingon for roughness."

Ervan tilted his head contemplatively. "There is no word simply for _woman_. It is a suffix – the word needs a species."

Ziranne shrugged. "Take Trill, then."

"Very well. A Trill woman… _Trillit-argax_."

Kela nearly guffawed with laughter. "I'd hate to hear the word for man, then."

Dax Alpha smirked at him. "Now you've piqued my curiosity. What is a man, Ervan? Say, a Kredaile man?"

He turned to her, grinning, and said as gruffly as he could, "_Kredailit-rekag_."

They all laughed. Ziranne shook her head, commenting sarcastically. "I don't think that… quite… does it either."

"You won't want the Klingon, either, then," Dax Gamma added.

Lasana stood, gesturing for Kela to follow suit. "Well, we'd better go. I want to be awake tomorrow."

Ziranne followed. "I'll take that as a cue to leave."

"As will I," Dax Alpha added. "Good night."

"Good night," Dax Gamma answered. Ervan simply nodded as they left.

"Well," he said to her, "I believe I will… how is it said? _Call it a night_."

She chuckled. "Go ahead. I've got another few things to do."

He turned and entered the lavatory. A few minutes into his sonic shower, he heard a noise somewhere between a scream and a roar. Without a moment's hesitation, he charged out, only to find Jadzia sitting calmly at her desk. At the sound of his arrival, she turned. "Ervan?" she asked quietly. "Is everything all right?"

"Who screamed?"

"Screamed?" Her subdued and tranquil voice began to unnerve Ervan. "I didn't hear a scream."

He reached for his changeling scanner and ran it over her. Though she shielded herself in surprise, she was unharmed by it. Puzzled, he set it down and sighed. "Computer," he called, "_was_ there a scream?"

"Negative."

"Then replay the internal sensor log from about a minute ago."

The computer acknowledged and and displayed a picture of Jadzia working at her desk, with some music in the background. As it reached a crescendo, an enormous screaming roar punctuated it.

"That!" he said, gesturing.

Dax erupted in laughter, and he asked her to explain, but she was unable to speak for a few seconds. Finally, she calmed down and turned to face him. "_That_," she clarified, "is Makag Qa'ordoSak. It's a Klingon opera."

"That was _music_?" he asked, horrified.

She nodded almost grimly. "The Klingons have a… different taste than most humanoids."

"Apparently so."

"Well, I'm essentially done." She yawned and blinked slowly. "It seems I should get to sleep."

The next morning, Major Kira stopped by the replimat for an early breakfast. She found Dax Gamma sitting alone at a table, writing a report. She took her raktajino and sat down across from her. "Dax," she said, taking a sip from her cup. "You're here early."

"Yeah." She smiled, glancing briefly up at her friend. "Couldn't sleep. Found this to pass the time."

The Bajoran thought for a second, then took Dax's arm. "Don't tell me that after eight lives you've got cold feet."

She laughed. "No, I'm… excited. A little impatient."

"But why come here?"

"No one was awake when I got up," she explained. "Except the night shift, of course, but none are my friends." She chuckled. "I tried to talk to Ervan about it and he says this: 'Jadzia,' he's got this kind of exasperated tone, 'Have patience. I require sleep.' And then –" she snapped her fingers, laughing. "Out like a light! Those Kredaile and their 29-hour days. He won't even be up for another two hours. At least."

"We could visit the holosuites," Nerys offered. "We never finished that medieval one after I hit the knight."

"Maybe. If you won't hit him again."

"Let's just… skip that part," she said, gesturing dismissively.

"All right," she said, shrugging. "Your loss."

Ervan opened his eyes, sighing. He turned his head to look at his fiancée, but he found only an empty pillow. He pulled himself up and stood. "Computer," he called, "locate Dax Gamma."

"Dax Gamma is in holosuite three," the computer responded.

"What time is it?"

"0843 hours."

He went into the lavatory to clean himself, and emerged a few minutes later. He instinctively reached for his battle armor, but stopped. _Civilian clothing_, he reminded himself. _Civilian ceremony, civilian clothing_. He pulled on the tunic that he usually wore under his armor and affixed a small communicator he'd replicated to have when he didn't wear his armor. He tapped it, partially as a test, and also to use it. "Ervan to Dax Gamma."

After a moment's hesitation, she responded. "Ervan, you're up."

"Indeed."

"I'll be down in a few minutes for the _ashafli'e_. If you're ready."

"I am."

"Good. Dax out."

Dax Gamma walked into the room. The lights were out, and in the center was a ceremonial fire, as during a _zhian'tara_. Unlike it, though, all eight volunteer bodies were present at once, as was Ervan. She had, at his urging, agreed to bring Verad's memories out as well, despite his only having hosted Dax for a few hours. She had succeeded in obtaining the same participants in the ceremony as for her_ zhian'tara_, with the exception of Quark. He had been replaced by Dax Alpha, and Worf was there as the extra body needed upon Verad's addition.

The Guardian bade Dax Gamma and the eight volunteers sit on a circular bench around the fire. She drew the memories out of her and walked around the circle, planting one set of them into each body. When the process was done, she turned and left.

Jadzia stood up and beckoned to Ervan, introducing the hosts. She gestured first to Major Kira's body. "Ervan, this is Lela." She shifted to Odo, then Leeta, Dax Alpha, Bashir, Sisko, Worf, and O'Brien, listing their temporary identities. "Tobin, Emony, Audrid, Torias, Joran, Curzon, and Verad."

"And you," he turned to her, "are simply Jadzia. Not the same as the Jadzia Dax I know."

"Yes," she answered, bowing ironically. "Except for the symbiont nestled in me, I am simply… Jadzia Idaris." She embraced him, saying as she did, "which doesn't mean I love you any less."

"Oh," Audrid cooed through Dax Alpha, clasping her hands together. "Aren't _ashafli'e_ wonderful?"

Jadzia let go of Ervan and addressed the room. "My fellow hosts, this is Ervan, my fiancé." He bowed his head in greeting, and she cautioned them. "He's… not used to our customs. If he does something wrong, be assured he means no offense."

"Then none will be taken," Curzon boomed in Worf's deep voice, a little surprised at his own power. He looked over at Audrid, then at Jadzia, asking, "Care to explain why there are two of you?"

"It's a… long story," she responded. "Maybe later."

"Oh, come now," he said, "we have time. Why don't we all go for a drink? If I remember, there's a bar around here somewhere." Before anyone could object, he was out the door, leading the group towards Quark's.

"Curzon," Jadzia called, walking quickly to catch up with him. "Curzon, Joran."

He looked back for a moment, stopping. "Oh. Well… we can handle him."

"And what if he gets ahold of something dangerous?"

Curzon looked down for a moment. "I… suppose you're right." He turned and went back into the room, followed by the others.

As they passed back inside the room, Torias passed Ervan. "Well, mister… Ervan," he began, "congratulations. Jadzia's a beautiful woman, and I'll be the last to keep her from you. Just… try not to be as stupid as I was. Listen to her. I get the impression she won't nag like Nilani did."

"Nag?" he tilted his head. "Computer, what does that mean?"

The computer acknowledged. "To disturb or annoy, particularly with repeated and undue concern."

"Ah," he said, understanding. "No, I don't believe she will."

Lela approached him. "Ervan," she said, "a pleasure to meet you. I'm Lela, Dax's first host." She smiled. He bowed his head in greeting, and she continued. "The purpose of this ceremony is to let you understand Jadzia better by talking to her –" she gestured around the room – "piece by piece."

"Very well," he said. "Tell me, what influence do you believe you have on her?"

Lela seemed a little surprised by the question, but after a moment's reflection, she answered. "I was a politician most of my life. I suppose she'd get some diplomacy from me." She waved dismissively. "I'm not so interesting. Try Curzon or Torias… they're real characters."

He shrugged, and moved over to Tobin, who was sitting along the wall. "You are Tobin."

"Yeah." Tobin spoke curtly, barely glancing up.

"Tell me," he said, sitting down, "what influence you've had on Dax."

"A little logic," he responded, still avoiding eye contact, "but mostly just shyness."

"That's not true," Jadzia said as she passed. "What about the curiosity? That was more yours than anyone's, at _least_ until Curzon."

"I… s'pose," he responded. Ervan simply nodded and stood, moving towards Emony.

Audrid came up to Jadzia. "I'm so happy for you," she said. "Do you remember what I told you in the _zhian'tara_?"

"Oh, about children?" Jadzia asked.

"Yes. Have you thought about it?"

"With Ervan? No, not really. I know the biology would work, though, so it's only a matter of whether we want them. I don't think either one of us has made up our mind yet."

"I don't mean to rush you," Audrid reassured her. "But… promise me you'll consider it?"

"Of course," she said, chuckling. "With you around, how could I not?"

Ervan approached from behind Audrid, coming around to face her. "You are… Audrid, I believe."

"Yes," she answered, "and I have a question for you."

He nodded once. "As do I for you, but… speak."

Audrid glanced at Jadzia, then back at the Kredaile. "Have you ever thought about having children?"

Ervan looked down, thinking. "Children… no, I haven't considered it practically." He looked back up. "Why?"

"Of course, I don't know you as well," she said, "but I think Jadzia would make an excellent parent."

"I'm sure he'd make a good one, too," Jadzia chimed in.

"Also," Audrid continued, "I think she deserves the joy that comes with a child." The Kredaile considered silently. She interrupted him, clarifying, "You don't have to – in fact, you shouldn't – decide now. This should take some time to consider. But I'd like to know you will consider it. For her sake, if not for yours."

He bowed. "I will."

Joran approached them. "So," he whispered in his softly cruel tone, "you must be Ervan. And Jadzia," he said, turning to her. "As beautiful as the last time." He glanced at Ervan. "Don't you agree, though, that beauty…" he struck out in a flash, knocking Jadzia to the ground. "Is more beautiful helpless?" Before he could press his assault, Ervan stepped between them, lifting Joran into the air.

"You… will not… _touch_ her." He snarled. The Kredaile let his captive down, but continued pulling and forced him to his knees. "Is that clear?"

Joran laughed quietly. "If only she could get this angry." He looked up at Ervan, his expression turning abruptly towards anger. "Don't you _understand_? It's not about Jadzia. I don't _want_ to come out again. Leave me be…" he began to sob. "Leave me be… seal my grave." Suddenly he straightened. "As you wish." He seemed to calm down, bringing himself to his feet. Ervan tensed. "It's all right," he said. "It's me. Benjamin." Ervan backed off warily, but his caution was unnecessary. Sisko sighed. "I'll keep him until the end of the ceremony." He looked over at Curzon. "There you are, Old Man. Come, let's have a drink!"

Without the danger of Joran's presence, the group had relocated to Quark's. Ervan had taken it upon himself to take one host at a time back to the previous room and talk to them privately. He had just finished with Curzon, and was returning with him.

"Benjamin!" Curzon boomed from the hallway. "Benjamin, I need to talk to you." He sat down next to him at the bar, glancing into the glass he'd left on it. "Quark, another." He turned to face his friend, nearly laughing. "This man has led a _tortured_ life, Benjamin. He's never had a drink before! I tried giving him some synthale and he just brought it back up. Now, I've got to go back into Dax soon, so the job's up to you. Teach him how to have _fun_." They both laughed.

Ervan passed by them and stepped up to Verad. "I'm saving Jadzia for last. That means it's your turn."

Verad shook his head. "No… don't count me." Ervan tilted his head inquisitively, so he explained. "I don't know why you even brought me out. And now, I'm half Odo… No, I have little to do with Dax. As far as I know, I'm still alive. At least have the respect to wait until I die." He turned away.

Ervan shrugged. "So be it." He returned to his fiancée. "Well, Jadzia… it seems you're next. Verad doesn't want to talk."

"Oh." She stood, gesturing towards the entrance. "Well, then, shall we?" Ervan nodded once, leading the way. Jadzia followed and came up alongside him. "So, how has the _ashafli'e_ been for you?"

"Quite enlightening, so far. Of course, as another host, I'll have questions for you, too."

"Of course."

"Well, then…" They stepped into the room and sat down. "How is it different being as you are now – Jadzia Idaris – than being Jadzia Dax?"

"I'm… less confident," she began, "and less experienced. I don't always have the conviction I would – thanks to Curzon, mostly. I feel kind of alone. The other hosts are usually there to keep me company and evaluate my actions… not to mention that the knowledge of a single lifetime sometimes makes me feel _woefully_ deficient. But it's good to do, every once in a while. It reminds me I still _do_ only have one life, and to live it well. Which, by the way, I intend to teach you how to do."

"I hope you understand," Ervan said worriedly, "that you're not alone."

"Oh, no," she dismissed, taking his hand and looking up at him. "Of course not."

An hour later, having finished the _ashafli'e_, the marriage proper was held. Benjamin, being the captain, had executed the legal ceremony, and now the Guardian conducted the traditional Trill rite. She turned first to Dax, deemed more important because of her joining. "Jadzia Dax Gamma, you have undergone _ashafli'e_. Do you wish to marry Ervan?"

"Yes," she answered. She turned to look at Ervan, but he was focused intently on the Trill Guardian.

The Guardian turned to him. "Ervan, you have conducted _ashafli'e_ with Dax. Do you wish to marry Jadzia Dax Gamma?"

"Yes," he responded in a barely-maintained military sternness. After a moment's pause, he failed to contain himself and smiled slightly, adding, "indeed I do."

"Very well." She recited a few sentences in Trill, and joined Ervan and Jadzia's hands together. "_Osla'kan faladi ash'azhe_." She looked up, smiling. "You are now married."

They turned and walked, hand in hand, to the door, amidst great applause. Having reached it, they kissed, then walked out. As soon as they were out the door, she whirled to face him. "It's done!" she exclaimed gleefully. "We're married." She looked up at him, noting his restrained smile. "Come, now, this is no time to hold back." She swept her arms out. "This is the grand moment for emotion! Set it free! Let it guide you, this once."

He laughed. "If you say so." He lifted her as one would a child, head and shoulders above him, then brought her back down and embraced her. "I love you, Jadzia… and as long as I have life, I will."

"I couldn't think of a better person to share my life with," she said. "Speaking of which, there's a life out there to be lived. Come on!" She dashed off towards Quark's, where the reception was to be held. Due to their delay, they were behind the guests, who greeted their entrance with another round of applause.

The applause had not fully died down when the Captain's combadge beeped. "Ops to Sisko."

He shook his head and stepped into one corner. "Sisko here."

"Captain, a runabout just came in from Starfleet Headquarters with Rear Admiral Singh. They want to speak to you."

"All right," he said. "Have them meet me in my office." He went to find Dax and take his leave.

Sisko arrived in Ops, stepping up to his office and gesturing for the Admiral to enter. "I'm sorry for the delay," he said as he walked around his desk and sat down at it, gesturing for the Admiral to take a seat. "I didn't expect you. I was at a wedding."

"No, of course you didn't. This was a quick decision, and we want to keep subspace silence on this."

"All right, what's going on?"

"I can't tell you." Singh looked at him grimly. "But we need Dax Gamma sooner than we thought. She's leaving tomorrow."

"_Tomorrow?_ Well… uh…" Sisko looked down. "She's not going to take that well."

"She'll have to," the Admiral insisted.

"You see," he explained, "the wedding I just left – she's the bride. To take her so soon… A Starfleet post isn't much of a honeymoon."

Singh shook his head. "No family's allowed on her assignment. I'm sorry to do it, but those are orders."

"Oh." Sisko hesitated, then stood. "I'd better go tell her, if that's all." The Rear Admiral nodded, and Benjamin left.

Although the Captain reached Quark's within a minute, it took him a few more to bring himself to approach Jadzia. She and Ervan were the center of attention, and she was positively beaming. He hated having to spoil her mood, especially on the day of her wedding – but, he reminded himself, there was nothing to be done. He walked up, trying his best to smile, and drew her attention. "Dax," he said when she turned, "can I have a word with you outside?"

She nodded, following him out. "What is it, Benjamin?"

He shifted uneasily, looking down. "Jadzia… Starfleet's taking you sooner. They want you to leave tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" she asked. "But Ervan…"

He shook his head. "It's more important, they say. They… don't allow family, either."

She sat down, taken aback. After a moment she began to regain her composure. "Ervan will be devastated," she commented, as much out of anger as warning.

"He's a soldier," Sisko countered. "He'll understand."

"Either way," she said, heading back inside, "best to break it to him as soon as possible." She made her way to Ervan and pulled him aside. "Ervan…" taking his hand, she looked up at him apologetically. "Starfleet changed its mind. It's taking me tomorrow. And it doesn't want you along."

"I see," he said, his mood much darker than it had been moments before. He embraced her for a few seconds, then let go. "Very well." He took a deep breath and began to smile again. "That's all the more reason to savor the time we have. Come." He led her back to the celebration.

That night, Ervan and Jadzia laid awake, talking. They had been ignoring the issue of her assignment for the better part of the day, but he decided there was something he needed to know. "What do they mean by an _indefinite_-term assignment?"

She looked at him and sighed. "They really mean indefinite. They haven't made up their minds, or it's subject to circumstance. It's a minimum of a few months, but it could go on for _years_." She reached over and touched his cheek. "I'm sorry it happened like this," she said, trying to fight back a lump building in her throat. "I don't have a choice."

He took her hand and removed it from his face. "I understand – and I'll manage. Captain Sisko and the others can keep me out of trouble until I can do so myself."

"Of course they will," she reassured him, trying to smile. After a few seconds, she gave up, and reached out to hold him. "I'm going to miss you."

"What?" he tensed, speaking in a whisper. "What's going on?"

She looked at him, puzzled. "What do you mean?" She paused for a moment, then laughed. "Oh. Have you never heard that expression? Relax, I'm not going to shoot at you."

He obeyed. "What does it mean?"

"It's a… feeling of regret, associated with an absence. Usually of people, but sometimes of circumstances." She sighed again. "In this case, it means that while I'm gone, I'll think of you. I'll regret not being able to stay with you."

"Ah," he said. "Yes, I understand. I will… _miss_ you, as well." Neither of them could think of what else to say, so they lay there, holding each other. Ervan couldn't help but wonder whether this was the last time he'd have the chance.


End file.
